Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of time master quest redo
by Safaria
Summary: OoT redo with a girl from the futur traveling to his land to help him save Hyrule, master quest dungeon discriptions.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Okay I know this has been done before with some person from the futur going back and helping Link save Hyrule but I thought it was a cool idea so I did one myslef. My other story "The six warriors" isn't going as I had planned so I may end up deleting that one and do this one instead. Anyway hope you like this one, please leave a review!**

_Where am I?_

_What is this place?_

_Who are these people?_

_ A young girl stood a good couple feet from what appeared to be a walled city. The drawbridge was down and a scary looking man on a black horse was talking to a small boy clad in green, and a little white fairy flying close to his head. Only moment before a white horse with an older women and a young girl for riders had rode out into the darkness of night and the pouring rain. As the young girl that had no idea where she was, stood there and watched on, the scary dark male raised his hand and what looked like a ball of energy shot at the young boy hitting him in the chest, knocking him over. The dark male laughed and then rode off…right towards the young girl. The small child turned around and ran, but after only a few steps she tripped and fell to her knees. The sound of hoofs grew louder and then stopped. Whimpering, she turned around and looked up at the malicious red eyes of the scary man. The male was dressed all in black; his fiery red hair cut short, and his sun-darkened skin almost looked green. The man looked down at the young girl and snarled._

_ "You! Not you again, why can't I get away from you! No matter, I will be rid of you once and for all." The male raised his hand and the glow of the same energy that had struck the boy before began to rise, only stronger in power, not meant to knock her over but to actually end her life. Giving a yell, he released the energy at the girl, and right before it hit her, she vanished. Left alone in the open field, the male raised his fist to the sky and cursed._

_"Damn you!"_

_Again. She was here again. Over the past seven years she had come to this strange land, and had watched as it fell apart. The young women stood in front of the walled city; the drawbridge broken and the walls dark now after so many years of abuse. It had been this seventeen-year-old girl that had been here the night the dark man had hit the boy in green with the blast of energy. The girl had been here often, and everyday she felt the pain and suffering of the people of Hyrule, she had finally learned the name of this land, and the same of the dark man, Ganondorf. How she hated him for what he had done to such a beautiful land. As the teenager stood there lost in her own thoughts a sheikah came up behind her. The sheikah was dressed in a purple full body outfit, the family crest on his chest, and bandages wrapped around his head, face, and some on his hands. He had odd yet trustworthy red eyes, and spiky short blond hair, or at least that's what it looked like from what you could see under the head bandages._

_ "Hello Sheik." The teenager said, turning to look at him. Just like everything else about this land, the girl had come to know him, and had become very close friends with him._

_ "The Hero of Time stirs in his slumber, I can feel it. The time will soon come when the sages will be ready to awaken, and Ganondorf if becoming nervous with you walking around here, able to hear and see everything, you already know the layout's of the many temples that are found through out this land. He will come for you Misty, and he will bring you here in physical form for good." Sheik's voice was grave as he looked at him friend, and he kept his eyes averted from her face._

_ "What? What do you mean he's nervous about me? I'm only a seventeen-year-old girl there's nothing I can do! How would he even get me to this place in a physical form for good!" The girl named Misty cried, and Sheik turned to face her, mouth open to answer her most valuable question, and then…_

"**BEEPBEEPBEEP.BEEPBEEPBEEP.BEEEEEEEEEEEE-" **SLAM! Misty gave a small groan after slamming her alarm clock to turn it off, and she raised her head off the pillow some to look at the darn thing and to find out exactly what time it was. 7:45 am.

"Son of a!" Misty cried as she flung the bed sheets of her, racing out of her room and down the hall. Coming to a sliding stop, she slide past the bathroom some before she reached out a hand to grab onto the door frame to stop herself completely. Dashing inside she slammed the door closed, and stripped off her clothes as fast as she could and hopped into the shower. Showering quickly she jumped out, brushed her teeth, did her hair and makeup, and with only the towel on, flew out the bathroom door and back down the hall to her room. Flinging the towel off she opened her draws and grabbed the first thing that her hands fell upon. While she dressed she went around the room and collected her binders and textbooks, shoving them into her book bag before dashing off to her dresser again to snatch up some accessories. Grabbing her bag, she ran down the stairs to the front door, where she stepped into her sneakers and peeked around the corner to look at the kitchen clock. 8:00am. Throwing her front door open she stepped out, locked it, and turned around to come face to face with her best friend Tiffany.

"Time?" Tiffany asked, just standing there with her hands on her hips.

"Seven forty five." Misty replied laughing as both turned away from the house and made their way down the street towards the high school.

"I don't know how you do it Misty, it takes me about an hour to look the way I do." Tiffany said as she made a sweeping gesture, indicating the way she looked.

"And you look great Tiff." She said truthfully. Tiffany was dressed in a light pair of designer blue jeans, a tight white tank top, and a matching blue vest. Her dark brown hair hung in ringlets down to her shoulders, framing her delicate facial features that so many guys could star at forever.

"I may look good, but if I did what you pulled every morning then it would be a different story, I mean it may be the year two-thousand and six but women still need the time to get ready, except for you that is." Tiffany continued as the two girls walked down the crowded side walk that lead to the high schools main entrance.

"Meh." Misty said. "I just grab whatever I get my hands on first." That comment was true too, though even she had to admit she still looked fine. She was dressed in a simple pair of light blue bellbottom jeans that zipped up on the left hip. A beige scarf was tied around her waist serving as a belt and she had on a tight black t-shirt. While Tiffany had on a set of pearl earrings, bracelet and necklace that must have cost a small fortune, Misty's accessories were more down to earth. Both her holes in her ears were filled with simple fake diamond studs, a timex watch on her left hand, a black sweat band with two red cherries on the front on her right wrist, a simple designed mood ring on her right thumb, her daughters pride ring on her right ring finger, and a small blue butterfly pendant on a simple silver chain hind around her neck. Makeup was light golden eye shadow and her shoulder length dark brown hair that was cur diagonally down from just below her eyes was, for once, straight.

"What ever." Tiffany said as the two walked into the school and down the hall to their lockers. Coming to a halt in front of them, Misty leaned her head onto the door and spun the dial to open the lock. Giving the lock a small pull, she opened her locker and went through the daily routine of grabbing the books she needed for her morning classes and putting away the books she didn't need.

"I had another dream last night." She said softly to tiffany as both girls closed their lockers. "Sheik was there again."

"And what did he have to say this time?" Tiffany asked as she leaned against her locker door, ignoring the first warning bell that rang.

"He said that Ganondorf wanted to get rid of me because I know too much about Hyrule." Misty said mimicking her friend as the students moved past them.

"Hey that's something serious." Tiffany replied with wide eyes, though she kept her voice down so they wouldn't be over heard.

"I know but what can I do?…We'll talk about this later." Misty answered back when the second bell rang. Giving a wave to each other the girls parted ways and headed off to their first period classes. As Misty made her way down a stairwell, she really realized how lucky she was to have friends like Tiffany, who believed her when she chose her to tell about the dreams. Sure she had been skeptical at first about her going to another land sometimes when she dreamt, but after getting hurt once there was no longer any doubts about the truth behind her words. And now she had something else to worry about, yep, she was sure glad she didn't have to go all through this on her own.

"Argh! I hate Wednesday's." Misty said. She was flat on her back on the stonewall that ran around the park that was near the school.

"What classes did you have this morning?" Tiffany called out from the picnic table she was eating at a couple feet away from the wall.

"Biology, Law, and Political Science."

"Well that's not too bad, you like Biology and Law."

"Yeah but not when I get told that I have tests in both classes on the same day while I'm worrying about some evil sorcerer guy kidnapping me." Came Misty's reply as she slung one arm over her forehead.

"Oh snap." Tiffany said, looking at her friend with a worried look. Before she could say anything else though, a tall male appeared from behind a tree, and made his way over to Tiffany's table. He was dressed in a pair of baggy dark blue jeans, a plain gray t-shirt, dark sunglasses, and to top it all off, a black cowboy hat over his curly brown hair. Jumping up on the table he walked over it and took a seat next to Tiffany.

"'Ello popits." He said, opening a small bag in his hand and pulling out an oreo cookie, stuffing it into his mouth. "Whufs ufs?"

"Ganondorf wants to kidnap Misty and keep her locked in Hyrule until he can kill her Michael, and she has a test in biology and law on the same day." Tiffany answered as she moved her chemistry notes so Michael wouldn't get cookie crumbs on them.

"No shit! Damn." Michael said looking over at his other best friend, he was the only other one that knew about Misty's dreams. "Wanna oreo?" He asked, holding out the bag.

"Yes." Misty said as she rolled off the wall, landing on her feet. She made her way slowly over to them, the table still some distance away when the ground suddenly seemed to vanish under her feet. Giving a small cry, she sank to her waist in what seemed to be some big purple portal.

"Misty!" Both Michael and Tiffany cried out as they sprang from the table and ran towards her.

"Stay back!" She ordered them as she struggled against the forced that was trying to pull her down into an unknown abyss. "This might be Ganondorf's doing, don't come near me."

"But.." Tiffany said as Michael held her back. "We just can't leave him have you!"

"I'll be fine." Misty said, giving them a small smile. "I'll miss you guys."

Unable to fight against the pull anymore, she let go and sunk below the surface of the purple portal. The last thing that her friends saw of her was a raised hand before their friend totally vanished. When the portal finally vanished, Michael let Tiffany go, and she fell to the ground where her friend had vanished.

"Misty!" She called out, and when no answer came she hugged her arms in closely and began to cry. Michael knelt down beside her and hugged her as he whispered through his own tears.

"She'll come back. I know it, Misty will come back to us Tiff."

Link walked across the broken drawbridge of the Hyrule market and blinked as the first rays of the early morning sun rose above the distant mountains, blinding Link momentarily. He had been locked away in the sacred realm for seven years, and so much had changed since then. He hadn't believed Rauru when he had said that Ganondorf had taken such complete control, but after walking through the market and fighting off the un-dead, Link no longer had such doubts.

"Hey!" Navi, Link's guardian fairy called out, and only continuing when she was sure that she had Link's full attention. "We should go to Kakariko village like Sheik said and look for what can help us reach Saria."

"Yeah you're right." Link responded, his deep voice still surprising him. Turning left from the drawbridge, Link and Navi made their way to the little stone bridge that made the only path across the river that flowed from Zora's domain to the castle. When the two reached the middle of the bridge, the sky grew dark, plunging the land into almost complete darkness.

"What the?" Link asked raising his eyes to the sky, just in time to see a purple portal open among the dark clouds, and from the portal fell a strangely dressed girl. Link was stunned as he watched her fall, but when she plunged into the river and didn't resurface right away he jumped into action.

Placing a hand on the railing of the bridge he jumped over and into the river. Swimming over to where he had seen the girl vanish, he took a deep breath and dove down into the water. Navi had followed obediently and by her white fairy light he was able to see well under the water. The river wasn't overly deep, and Link soon found the girl. Grabbing her around her slender waist, Link pulled her back towards the surface. As soon as they broke through the water, Link quickly pulled her to shore, and laid her gently flat on her back as he checked to make sure she was still breathing.

"Who is she?" Navi asked after Link had confirmed that she seemed to be alright.

"I don't know." Link answered looking at the girls youthful face. 'She can't be much younger then I.' He thought to himself and then spoke out loud to Navi. "We should take her to Malon, I bet she'll know what to do."

After Navi agreed to his plan, Link placed one arm under the girls legs and the other under her shoulders. Picking her up, the boy and his fairy made their way slowly over to Lon Lon Ranch.

Link knew that something was wrong at the ranch as soon as he walked up the path, and the gates past the house closing the main part of the ranch from the housing area didn't help his worries in the least. Peeking around the corner of the barn, he looked out across the wide pen where all the horses were kept during the day. The animals seemed to be cared for well enough, but this was not the way Link remembered the ranch.

There were a couple horses here and there that were saddled up for someone to ride them, and two large gate doors kept the horses locked in their pen. Mr. Ingo, the old stable hand, was standing next to the closed gates, dressed in expensive clothing that he would not have had way back when. Malon was no where's in sight.

Backing up so that he was sure to be out of Mr. Ingo's sight, Link turned and whispered to Navi.

"Let's check in the barn for Malon. I don't like the feel of this place."

Walking back to the barn door, Link shifted the still unconscious girl in his arms and managed to open the door. Quickly walking inside, he closed the door behind him and turned around to see a startled Malon. Knowing that she probably didn't recognize the small boy in green from seven years ago, Link acted as if he didn't know Malon at all.

"Please excuse me for this intrusion, but my friend needs help." He said, knowing that he wouldn't need to explain what friend he was talking about.

"Oh my." Malon said walking over to the three. "Please follow me to the house, we can lay her down inside."

Link gave a small nod of his head as he let Malon lead the way to the house. He hopped that at least now he would get at least a couple of his thousands of questions answered.


	2. Chapter 2

_**A/N: For anyone who is following this story I'm sorry it took so long to get up but with this being my senior year and what not it's hard to find time to write. If anyone is interested, I will be getting my old story "The six warriors" back up in time for the new year. Hope you like this chapter and please review!**_

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_'Argh I hate my life.' _Misty thought to herself as she finally started to regain consciousness. Everything was still dark, but the voices that she could hear faintly from fair off soon grew clearer after each passing moment.

"So Ganondorf has taken over much of Hyrule." A males voice.

"Yes, everyone lives in fear." Females.

"Malon where are you? I need your help, get down here immediately!" Another males voice. An angry males voice.

_'Oh shit.'_ Misty thought. _'Ganondorf must have captured me and these must be his servants!.'_ She stayed silent and kept her eyes closed as she heard the female excuse herself and leave the room. She waited until she heard the door latch shut, and then risked opening her eyes to gaze about the room. Surprisingly, it was actually very homily. To the far wall where the door was located, there were some white washed wooden dressers. To the left of the bed she was in was a small round table with three chairs around it, and on the table..

_'Hello!' _Misty thought as her eyes fell onto the vase sitting in the middle of the table. _'Bingo, a weapon perhaps?' _She knew that there was still someone in the room, and she guessed that it was the first male she had heard. Moving her eyes back towards the door, she spotted him.

He was tall, taller then her she guessed, and was at least five eleven. He was dressed in a leaf green tunic, brown boots that ended just below his knees, and what appeared to be white tights. On his head he sported a silly long hat the same color as his tunic, and his long blond hair stuck out from under it. Misty could tell that he had an athletic build from the way his clothing fell around him, but even so the sword and shield located on his back would have made her think twice about fighting him anyway. She wasn't given much time to rethink her plan though for just then what looked like an over large white firefly came into view and called out.

"Hey! Link look she's awake!"

As the male called Link turned around at his friends call, Misty leapt from the bed and ran over to the table. Skidding around it she picked up the vase and pointed it at the male just as he began walking towards her.

"Stay away from me! I swear I'll kill you…you evil Ganondorf follower wannabe!" She wasn't sure that this male did actually work for Ganondorf, and secretly she hoped that he didn't. She only realized after he turned around that he had amazing blue eyes, and he was actually really good looking. Hot or not though, Misty would fight to the death if he did work for Ganondorf.

"Huh? Wha-" The male started, but the big firefly cut in.

"Slow down there sweetie. We're not going to hurt you, and we certainly don't work for Ganondorf."

"You don't?" Misty asked, lowering the vase down some.

"Of course not." The fairy continued. "We're the ones fighting against him. My name is Navi the fairy, I'm Link's guardian fairy, he's the Hero of Time who's going to save Hyrule." To this, Link gave a small bow, and once again began to make his way over once he realized that he wouldn't get something thrown at him.

"You mean tight-boy is a hero?" Misty asked in a stunned voice, placing the vase on the table. Link may have looked to be in great physical shape, but the tights didn't really give him the feel of a hero, at least not to Misty.

"Yep. He's the only thing stopping Ganondorf from taking complete control of the whole world. The two of us have to go al around Hyrule and wake up the five sages that are sleeping in the temples, so they can seal Ganondorf away for good." Navi continued as she flew over to Misty and took a seat on her shoulder.

"Temples? Hey I know where the temples are, I've been in them all the time!" Misty replied looking from Navi, to Link, and then back to Navi. This wasn't completely the truth. She had been inside some of them but she never went farther then just the main room, and she hadn't a clue where they are, but of course she wasn't about to tell the other two this, she didn't want to be left alone with Ganondorf after her and if this was the only way, then so be it.

"Then you should come with us!" Navi called out, hoping off her shoulder and flying to face the girl.

"Navi I don't think that'll be a good idea, it's going to be very dangerous." Link replied, looking at Misty with an apologetic look.

"Link, listen! We need to get this done as soon as we can. Having someone who knows where the temples are and knows the there way around inside them will help us get this journey done faster and then we can save everyone." The little fairy countered.

Link took a step forward and opened his mouth as if he was going to argue, but one glance at the determined look on Misty's face changed him mind.

"Fine." He said with a small sigh.

"Yay! Lets get on our way then there's so much that we have to do we have no time to loose!" Navi chirped, and she flew down and grabbed onto Misty's hand, pulling her towards the door.

Link gave his head a small shake as he followed the two and gave another small sigh. Now he had some strangely dressed girl to worry about also. Walking out of the room and down the steps of Malon's house, Link suddenly remembered the song he had learnt here, and also a way for them to travel around faster.

"Hey Navi." Link said as soon as they stepped outside, and began to make his way towards the horse corral. "Remember that little horse names Epona? The one Malon gave us the song to call?"

"Yes of course I do. She was a cute little thing." Navi answered back, following Link and pulling Misty along behind her.

"Well why don't I try calling her? I'm sure Malon wouldn't mind if we borrowed her and we could get around Hyrule faster."

"Oh good idea Link. Let's try it."

Link walked around the horse corral well away from Mr. Ingo. Looking inside the corral, he though he could see the red coloring of Epona, so he reached into his pocket and pulled out the ocarina of time. Putting it to his lips, he softly played Epona's song, and as soon as the last noted were played there was a small whiney and Epona, the now fully grown horse, ran towards them from inside the corral.

"Hey girl." Link said, reaching his hand through the gate so Epona could nuzzle it. Looking around Link gave yet another sigh and shook his head. "No good. The gates are too high, she can't jump over them and I see no other way to get her out either."

For a moment all three were silent, Navi seated on Misty's head, and Link petting Epona's nose. Misty looked around the ranch, at the two fences that were inside the horses coral to the worn race track that ran around the outside. Her eyes then went back to Mr. Ingo, and there was no question about what kind of man he appeared to be, and that was what brought about the idea of how they were going to get Epona out.

"Hey Link, do you have any money on you?" Misty asked looking at him.

Link looked at her for a moment with a small frown before he replied.

"If you mean rupee's then yes I have some."

"Great, then follow me." Misty said, and then lead the group around the corral to Mr. Ingo.

"Hello." She said pleasantly as they stopped in front of him. Mr. Ingo turned around to speak to them, and Misty took a step back because of the crazed look he had in his eyes, he never even returned her greeting before he began speaking.

"There are some people in Kakariko spreading rumors that I cheated Talon out of the ranch, but don't be ridiculous! That guy Talon was weak! I, the hard working Ingo, poured so much energy into this place! I don't want any strangers like you saying anything bad about me! Listen, The great Ganondorf recognized my obvious talents and gave the ranch to me! I will raise a fine horse and win recognition from the great Ganondorf! Say, young man, do you want to ride one of my fine horses? Pay me ten rupees and you can ride."

"Ummm.." Link said looking to Misty, who gave her head a small nod. "Sure."

"Thank you so much heh heh!" Mr. Ingo said, and right before Link followed him through the gate, Misty grabbed Links arm and whispered to him.

"Link, see those two fences in there? Jump Epona over them twice and then talk to Mr. Ingo. I bet you anything he'll want to race you for a little more money, he looks like the type to pull something like that, he may even put Epona up as a reward. If you do race, stick to the inside, trust me."

Link gave a small nod to show that he understood, and walked inside the gate. He waited until the gates were close before calling Epona again. Once she was there, he mounted her and set off towards the gates. Jumping over them with ease, Linked watched Mr Ingo, and after witnessing Links horseman skills began to, suddenly, look very interested. Walking Epona over to Mr. Ingo, Link gave the man a smile, and just as Misty had predicted, the man began bargaining.

"You're getting better! How about a little race with me? One lap around the corral with that horse. Let's make a little wager, say fifty rupee's?" When Link agreed t it, the mans smile grew. Leading the beige color horse that had been placed there originally for people to ride, he walked it outside the corral and mounted. A white long strip was painted on the ground, as both riders walked their horses up to it and stopped.

Misty, off to the side so she wouldn't get in the way, counted down from three and then riders were off. Right away Link knew Mr. Ingo wasn't going to play fair, for he tried to cut Link off to get on the inner side of the track. Link wasn't about to let this happened, and he was actually a very good rider. Squeezing Epona past his opponent, Link gained the lead and within moments the race won the race. Dismounting he waited for Mr. Ingo, and as soon as the man got off his horse, he walked to Link and started off again.

"Sh-shooot! If the great Ganondorf found out about his humiliation…Hey you! How about another race! If you win…you can keep…the horse!"

'_Well would you look at this'_ Link thought to himself, _'She was right' _

Getting the horses to the starting point once more, Misty did her count down. Even before she said one though, Mr. Ingo started off, and Link had no choice but to start a moment later. Mr. Ingo had the advantage this time, pushing his horse hard and riding on the inside of the track. Link was riding at his heels, and about halfway through, Mr. Ingo made a mistake and went wide, leaving Link the chance to sneak past him and gain the upper hand.

Once again Link was the first to cross over the finish line, and this time he rode Epona over to the side and didn't dismount as he waited for the other man. Mr. Ingo jumped off his horse and walked to the path that ran between the house and the barn, also the only way out of the ranch.

"What's up with that horse!" Mr. Ingo cried out. "Is that Epona? How did you tame that wild horse right under my nose! I was going to present that horse to the great Ganondorf…But I bet it on the race and lost! Shooot! Hah ha hah!" Mr. Ingo said, and as he placed his hands by his side, his face grew calm once more. "As I promised, I'll give the horse to you, however, I'll never let you leave this ranch!" With that evil smile still on his face, he closed the gates that lead to the path, standing on the other side, trapping the others inside.

Walking over to Link, who was still on Epona, Misty glared at Mr. Ingo as she spoke.

"Link what are we going to go? We have to get out of here." Looking back up to Link, she was a little surprised to see that he had a small grin on his face,

"Jump up." He said, holding his hand down for her to take. Looking at him curiously, she accepted the offered hand and pulled herself up behind him on Epona.

"Oh no Link, you're not going to- " Navi started, but her voice was muffled as she flew in under Link's hat.

"Link what are you going to do?" Misty asked worriedly as she grabbed onto the back of his tunic.

"Hang on." Was the only answer he gave her. Turning Epona around, he walked her a couple feet from the gate. Once they were a good distance from it, he turned her around to face the gate once more, gave her a small nudge with his knees, and Epona started to gallop before breaking out into a full out run.

"Oh my god!" Misty cried as the gate approached them at a frightening pace. She thought for sure they were going to hit it, but at the last moment, Epona jumped right over the gate and Mr. Ingo, in fact she jumped right over the cliff walls surrounding the ranch.

Epona landed with a small thud and ran a couple feet from the ranch before stopping and rearing, kicking her front hooves in the air, nickering for her new freedom before placing her feet back on the ground.

"Good girl." Link said laughing, leaning over to pat her neck. Only when he moved did he notice that Misty was still clinging onto the back of his tunic. Turning around to look at her, he observed her with a worried expression for a moment before he spoke again. "Are you alright?"

Misty turned her pale face towards the sound of his voice, and focused her eyes on his face. Taking in a shaky breath, she gave a fake smile as she answered with her voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Oh yes Link, of course I'm okay. I always go horseback riding and let my horse jump over a gate, a person, and then a small cliff."

"Then we're all set." Link said dumbly, and then gave a small yelp of pain as Navi plucked a single piece of hair from his head. "What was that for Navi?" He demanded as the fairy appeared next to his ear.

"Boy being locked away for seven years sure has made you dumb." Navi whispered and then sighed as the blank look never left Link's face. "She is not okay. Look at her, she's shaking like a leaf in the middle of a wind storm. She's probably never even ridden a horse in her entire life."

"Well what am I supposed to do about it?" Link whispered back, realizing Navi was right and that the girl probably wasn't paying attention to them.

"Take some time and talk to her. Here's something you probably didn't realize, we don't even know her name yet or where she's from."

"That's true." Link replied, and after Navi vanished back into his hat, he carefully dismounted from Epona. Giving Misty a small nudge, he raised his hands up to her, and making sure she didn't fall off the horse, helped her down. Leading Epona over to the shortest end of the near by stonewall, he took a sear and motioned Misty to do the same. Watching her out of the corner of his eye for a moment, he began his newest quest of trying to calm her down.

"So." He began, and with just one word anyone could tell that his social skills needed improvement. "What is your name anyway? And where are you from?"

Misty, who already had most of the colur back in her face, took a deep breath and ran a hand through her hair before she answered.

"Misty, just call me Misty. As for where I'm from, it doesn't really matter besides the fact that I have to get home somehow, and the only way I can do that is if I help you get rid of Ganondorf. Once he's gone then I'm sure I'll be able to get back home so how about we stop wasting time and get to awakening these sages!" With that she stood to her feet, hooked her thumbs in the waistline of her jeans, and began walking towards Kakariko village.

"Well that went well." Navi said peeping her head out from under Link's hat.

"What's with the attitude?" Link asked, not really wanting an answer, but getting one from his fairy anyway.

"She must be scared being so far from her home. No idea where she comes from but judging by her clothes I'd say it's far."

Sighing Link stood up and took a hold of Epona's bridle, and began to lead to the horse after the girl, talking under his breath. "If she plans on walking the whole way through this quest, I am leaving her behind. I'll be through the dungeon before she even gets to the entrance."

Catching up to Misty, the two walked in silence, the only sound breaking the quiet of the day was the little giggles of the white fairy under Link's hat who had caught the last words spoken by the hero.

"I wish people would stop staring at me." Misty said as the two continued to walk around Kakariko village. They had been searching around the village for hours and still hadn't any idea about what Sheik had been talking about when he said that there was something here that could help them reach the forest temple.

"Maybe it has something to do with the way you look." Link pointed out as he looked at the archery building.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Came the instant reply, and before Link could answer she continued on. "Never mind. Let's start asking the villagers and see if they know anything." Walking away from Link, Misty headed towards the entrance of the village where a large tree was located. Beneath the tree there was two men, obviously twins, one in a red shirt, the other in blue. Even before she reached them, Misty could tell they were discussing something for the one in the red was laughing and the one in blue seemed to be almost pleading with the other. She didn't even have to ask what was going on for as soon as she stepped in front of them the one in red burst out laughing once more.

"Wah hah hah hah hah hah! Look at this guy! Ever since he escaped from Hyrule castle town, he's become even more timid!" Which was immediately followed by blue's retort.

"I tell you, I saw him! I saw the ghostly figure of Dampe the grave keeper sinking into his grave. IT looked like he was holding some kind of treasure!"

"Treasure?" Misty said as she turned to look at Link who had just joined them. Link gave a small shrug of his shoulders, but as soon as the twins went back to their own private conversation, he leaned closed to Misty.

"It may just be what we are looking for. Let's go to the graveyard."

Misty nodded her head and the two went off, walking so they wouldn't draw anymore attention then what Misty's modern clothes were already. Walking up the step next to the archery building, Misty leaned over the side of the well for a moment before following Lank past the windmill and up the path that lead to the graveyard.

Walking through the opening that lead to the main area of the graveyard, Misty stopped and stared at a large stone tablet.

"Wonder what it says." She said quietly, tracing her fingers over the letters that were engraved in the stone.

"R.I.P. Here lie the souls of those who swore featly to the Royal family of Hyrule. The Sheikah, guardians of the Royal family and founders of Kakariko watch over these spirits in their eternal slumber." Link answered, looking over her shoulder at the markings. At the quizzical look she gave him, he gave a small shrug of his shoulders. "It's written in Hylian, and since that's where we are, I know the language. Come on, I think that's where Dampe lived." Link said pointing to a very small, rickety building that looked like a shed. It was to their right, a little blemish to the graveyard.

"Alright, but lets hurry, the sun has almost set." Misty replied and both walked to the door. Link gave the doorknob a little turn and when there was no resistance, he turned it the whole way and pulled the door open. Walking inside Misty looked around and was pretty much right when she had thought of it as a shed. There was nothing to it to really call it a home. The floor was just the lands natural dirt, there was a single bed pushed to the side, and a table and a chair at the far end of the cabin. Walking over to it, Misty saw that there was a book on the table that looked like a journal. Picking it up, she turned to Link and held it out for him to see.

"Alright wise guy, what does it say?"

Frowning at her some, Link took the journal and read out loud with Navi hovering close to the page so he had more light.

"Whoever reads this, please enter my grave. I will let you have my stretching, shrinking keepsake. I'm waiting for you. Dampe."

"Oh no, no way are we going into a grave. It's already dark out!" Misty said backing up some.

"Oh yes we are." Link said, walking towards her and grabbing her arm. After setting the journal back on the table, he pulled her out the door behind him and walked up the path directly in line with the hut.

"Link, what's the little lantern thing?" Misty asked as they came close to it. She got her answer, but not from Link. As soon as they got close, the lantern shook and what looked like a ghost appeared. The thing laughed and moved towards them. Link immediately let go of Misty's arm and reached behind him, grabbing his sword and shield. Moving forward he struck the ghost twice before it reared up, paused, and then shrank back down, as the lantern fell and broke on the ground.

"What was that?" Misty asked as she inched forward, looking at the small purple flame that was left behind from the lantern.

"Just a poe." Link answered, as he walked to the last grave with floweres in front of it. Pulling the gravestone from behind, Link moved it so that a hole big enough for them to fit through was revealed. Standing up Link smiled to Misty, who gave a small whimper but let Link take hold of her arm and pull her down into the hole.

Link landed gracefully on his feet on a large stone plateau, Misty on the other hand stumbled as soon as her feet touched the ground and fell to her stomach. Looking up she saw a large tunnel, and floating right in front of it with a little halo was the scariest guy she had ever seen. Squeaking once she got up and made a move to backup, but after one step she ran into Link who had come up behind her.

"Hello Dampe." Link said, looking at the guy with the halo.

"Heh heh heh, young man! Are you fast on your feet?" Came the ghosts' reply. "I may not look it, but I'm confident in my speed! Let's have a race! Follow me if you dare!" Then Dampe was off, throwing little flames for Link to follow.

"Stay here." Link said and then took chase, intending to leave Misty behind. Misty on the other hand had another idea, for she had perked up at the sound of a challenge.

Link had started off before she had, and his longer legs gave him an advantage. Soon she had lost sight of him, but because of Dampe's flames, she could easily follow.

'_Left, right. Straight, right, left, left right. Big stone door slamming behind me. Right, open space with rocks, right passageway. Another big stone door. Right, left, left passageway that I have to jump to reach. Left, and..Oh my god big gaping hole!' _Misty thought to herself as she came to a stop. Looking up she saw Link running up a path that started to the left of where she was standing. Running with all her might, Misty just passed through the final archway before the stone door shut. Breathing hard she waved at Link, who shook his head and turned to speak to Dampe.

"Hehehe, young man. You were very quick to be able to keep up with me! Hehehe! As a reward, I'm going to give you my treasure. It's called a hookshot! Its spring-loaded chain will pull you to any spot where its hook sticks. Doesn't that sound cool? I'm sure it will help you! I live here now, so come back sometime. I'll give you something cool! One more thing! Be careful on your way back! Heheheh." And with that Dampe vanished as a chest appeared before them. Opening it up, Link pulled out the hookshot and smiled.

"Now we can save Saria." He said.

"Yeah sure Link. Except how are we going to get out of here?" Misty said, pointing to the stone door.

"There's another opening here." Link said pointing in front of him to the dark opening of what both thought would be another tunnel. Misty walked up the steps of the small plateau and both she and Link jumped off the other side and walked through the dark opening. Just as before during the race, as soon as they had cleared the doorway, a solid stone door slammed down. The area they were in was only a small square room, just big enough for the two to have their own personal space.

"This isn't good." Link said in a laid back voice as he crossed his arms and leaned against the stone door.

"No kidding." Misty said walking to the opposite wall. The stone there looked odd, like a different color. Giving a sigh, she placed her head against the wall and brought her hand up to trace pictures against the stone. As her hand moved over it, she began to notice something like a picture already in the stone.

"Navi, come here please." She said. Navi flew from under Link's hat and moved next to Misty. From the light of the fairy the two could see a design etched into the wall. Upon closer inspection, Misty learned that the drawing wasn't even part of the actual wall, but stone blocks.

"It looks like the same design that was on the door of time." Link observed, now standing next to Misty with his arms still crossed.

"Hey!" Navi shouted flying above their heads. "Why not try the song of time then Link?"

"Alright." Uncrossing his arms, Link pulled out the ocarina of time. Placed the instrument to his mouth, and began playing another song. As soon as he blew out the last note, a blue light surrounded the stone blocks, shinning from the floor to the ceiling. The light began to shrink, and along with it the blocks. Soon the blocks were gone, another pathway was revealed. Misty walked to the pathway and gave a small sigh. The stones that lead upward began at least a couple inches above her head, meaning she would have to give a huge jump to even reach the ledge to pull herself up.

"Need a hand?" Link asked, coming up behind her.

"I'm fine." Misty replied. Taking one step back, she crouched down and then leaped up, grabbing a hold of the ledge. Staying there for a moment, she adjusted her hands and was about to pull herself up when she felt pressure under her foot. Looking down she saw Link was kneeling down with her foot in his hands. Link just looked up and gave her a smile before he stood up and pushed her upwards. Sighing again, Misty pulled herself up the rest of the way, and moved aide for Link. He jumped and pulled himself up with ease while Navi flew up. With Navi leading the way, the two made their way up the narrow stairway single file, Misty leading the way. After a couple minutes light from an outside source bloomed at the top of the stairway. Running the rest of the way, Misty came out of the tunnel and almost fell off the high ledge she had come out on.

"Looks like we ended up inside the windmill." Link said coming up behind her. "Hang on a moment." He backed up some and went down on his knees. "Alright you go first."

Misty sat down on the ledge and lowered herself down as far as her arms could reach. Link laid down on his stomach, grabbed her hands, and lowered her down more. Letting go, Misty dropped the very short distance remaining and wondered how Link was going to get himself down. Once again her unasked question was answered after Link jumped from the ledge and landed on his feet next to her.

"Alright, time to head to Kokiri forest." Navi said, and the two exited the windmill and made their was back to Hyrule field, where Epona was still waiting to take them to the forest entrance.


	3. Chapter 3

**Important A/N: Okay well it took me forever but I finally got the third chapter up. Thanks to those of you who reviewed, really helped get this chapter up faster. What I did was only take parts of the temple and wrote it in, and what I want to know is what you readers think of it. For future referance, I'd like you to tell me if I should write in the whole dungeon, or continue with peices of it. It would really help to have your opinion, so please leave a review with what you think, or email me, you can even give in suggestions of what you would like to read, like maybe a fishing trip! I love writing this, so more requests I get, the longer it'll be! That's all for now, hope you like it. **

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"AAAHH!" Misty cried falling onto the ground as she scrambled to get away from what appeared to be a giant venus fly trap. Link jumped around her, pulling out his sword and shield at the same time. The plant lunged into him once before he stabbed its large, blue, bulb like head. The plant locked upright, and Link moved in, swinging his sword at its thin green stem, severing it in half. All that was left of the creature was a stick that Link bent to pick up.

"Link watch out!" Misty cried as what looked like a nut came hurtling towards his head. Hearing her warning, Link rolled to the side as the nut sailed harmlessly over him.

"It's too dangerous here! Quick run into that house!" Link called to her, pointing at a small round house with a leaf on its roof that was near the forest entrance.

Running inside with Link close at her heels, Misty looked around house. There were four chests, two to either side of a red carpet that ran from the entrance down to a stage at the other end of the room. Sitting on its steps was a small kid, another one seated on the bed that was next to it. As soon as Link walked further in, and the kids got a good look at him, and the kid on the stage called out to him.

"Why is that fairy following you around? You're not one of us!" These words struck Link hard, after all he had grown up with these kids, though he couldn't recall their names at the moment. Link kept silent, which seemed to prompt the other kid into speaking.

"I see you didn't have any problems entering the forest, mister. Did the meanies out there bother you much? Before the Great Deku tree died you wouldn't see things like that around here. Since it's dangerous outside, I always stay inside my house. But I'm bored to death in here!"

Misty walked up behind Link as soon as the kid finished speaking, and he turned around to speak to her softly.

"I don't like this. I know where the forest temple is, Saria always said that it would one day be important, and now I know why. There's a ledge just behind this house. Climb up that and you'll see a cliff with vines on it. Climb up that also then run up the path and turn left. There should be a very large log opening there. Go through that and wait for me once you're safely inside. Do you understand?" Link asked, and continued once Misty nodded her head yes. "Alright….Go!"

Misty dashed from the house and ran around the corner where Link told her to go, ducking under another of the flying nuts. Link passed her as they climbed the vines, and took off his shield to provide cover for her from another of the nut shooters. Running through the log opening, she looked around where she was and gave a small sigh. There were three other openings and she couldn't see past the start of them because of the darkness. When Link came up next to her, she turned to speak with him.

"How do we find the temple in this?"

"Just listen." Link said, and laughed at her blank expression. "I lived here, I know how to listen to the forest." Messing up her hair some, Link turned towards the left opening, and Misty followed grumbling under her breath as she fixed her hair.

The paths may have seemed simple and easy to follow for Link, but Misty was completely lost. Soon they came to one area that had a small lake in it. Starting from the far side of the lake was a stone structure, and from what Misty could see of it, it ran all the way down to the bottom. Link turned to the left log opening and abruptly stopped, and Misty, who had been looking at the stone structure, walked right into him.

"Hey!" She protested, looking around him to see why he had stopped.

Standing in front of the opening with his hand raised, was another little orange haired kid, who started to talk as soon as he had noticed Link and Navi.

"What are you?! Though you wear Kokirish clothing, you can't fool me! I promised Saria I would never let anybody go through here." Misty looked up to Link who just sighed and pulled out his ocarina. Playing what Misty thought was a bouncy little tune; he lowered it again and looked at the guy blocking their path as he began to speak again.

"That melody!? Saria plays that song all the time! You….Do you know Saria? That song…Saria taught that song only to her friends…ok…I trust you. When I see you…I don't know why, but I remember….him.."

The guy moved out of the way and Link moved on without another word.

"What guy was he talking about?" Misty asked.

"Never mind." Link replied, and Misty noticed that his hands were clenched and movements stiff. Deciding that he was in no mood to talk, Misty fell a step behind him and followed in silence. After a couple more turns they came into a large opening that had a cliff at the end of it, and a hole breaking through the cliff making a path. Link walked towards the opening confidently, but just as he reached it, Navi flew out of his hat and into his face.

"From here on, we'll be going through some narrow passages! If you take it slow, maybe you can sneak up on some enemies."

"Enemies?" Link repeated in confusion, the only enemies he remembered were Deku scrubs and they had never bothered Navi before. Link stood still and listened, and sure enough he caught the sounds of something growling, or something's rather.

Standing in the tall grass of the opening, Link waited and listened. Soon a large animal that Misty thought looked like a large brown bull dog on steroids dressed in armor, walked by with a spear in hand. Link looked at it and calmly took out the hook shot. Targeting it on the beast he fired, and the creature cried out once before it burst into green flames.

"Lets move." Link said in an unimpressed voice. He moved forward and left Misty with the choice of either following or being left behind.

They went through the process of sneaking around corners and taking out the dog creatures a couple times, once even having to jump into a deep pond to get to another path. Soon they reached a long stairway, and Misty thought that they had finally reached the entrance to the temple. What greeted her eyes though when they reached the top made her groan. There was another dog creature about halfway down a path that lead to another set of stairs, and this one seemed larger and meaner then the others, and also had a very large club in his hands.

"Wait here." Link said, and ran towards the monster without giving Misty a chance to answer. The huge creature raised its club in the air before crashing it down on the ground, sending large waves of dirt at Link. Link dodged around it, having to do it more then once because the dog kept his attacks coming, but soon enough Link rolled around the thing, bringing his sword out. Stabbing at it repeatedly, the creature eventually fell, and just like the others, burst into green flames. Running down the path, Misty caught up with Link and both climbed up the next set of stairs.

When they reached the top Link slowly made his way over to a stump that was situated to the left of a large stone building. Misty looked at it as she walked over towards him, and realized that this had to be the temple, though they had a small problem since the steps leading up to it were broken after the second set. After a few short moments of Link staring at the stump, they heard the noise of someone jumping down near by. Both of them turned to watch as a purple clad male walked towards them. Misty had to work hard to keep her face emotionless, but non the less she was happy to see that she had at least not imagined Sheik up when she had come here before. As he walked towards them Sheik began speaking in his light voice.

"The flow of time is always cruel ..Its speed seems different for each person, but no one can change it. A thing that doesn't change with time is a memory of younger days…In order to come back here again, play the minute of forest." Pulling out a harp, Sheik began to play some sort of melody, and Misty listened with her eyes closed as both he and Link played the song together. To her, it sounded sad, but also memorable, like something to play when you wanted to think back on earlier memories, perhaps that's why Sheik had chosen the words he had. When they finished playing Misty gave a small sigh, and opened her eyes to watch Sheik put the hard away and speak.

"Link….I'll see you again.." Backing up Misty saw his eyes shift to her for a moment before he pulled out a deku nut, throwing it on the ground and disappearing in a flash of light that both had to cover their eyes from. When they could see again, Misty looked to Link to cover up any hint that she may have known Sheik.

"That was weird."

"Sheik is weird." Link said, obviously having not noticed anything. Looking up at the stone structure that Misty had been gazing at before, he rubbed his chin as he thought of something. Eyes straying to the tree that had grown next to it, Link moved towards it as his eyes trailed along a branch that hung over the plateau of the stone structure.

"Come here." Link said, grabbing Misty's arm to pull her after him before wrapping an arm around her waist.

"Link what are you doing?" She asked, looking at him with wide eyes.

"Getting us to the temple." He replied, taking out the hook shot again and pointing it up to the branch. Waiting until Misty had wrapped her arms around his neck he shot the hook towards the branch. After it stuck in the wood, they flew through the air, and when they reached the branch, Link let go of Misty and grabbed one arm around the branch, the other pulling the hook shot free. Misty kept a tight hold on Link, eyes closed and refusing to look down.

"Alright Misty, grab onto the branch." Link said putting an arm around her again after putting the hook shot away. Misty nodded her head and did as she was told, letting go of Link and getting a tight hold on the branch above her head with both arms. Once she was secure, Link dropped down onto the platform, and after absorbing the fall, stood up straight with his arms outstretched, calling back up to her.

"Alright, drop."

"What!?" Misty yelled looking down at him. "Oh what ever." She said, and let go. She gave a small cry as she dropped down, and a small squeak as she felt resistance to her fall as Link caught her. Link gave a small smile before he set her back down on her feet and turned towards the stone archway.

"Lets go."

Misty cleared her throat some as she felt her cheeks heat up, and followed him stiffly.

The area that they walked into was another large opening, stone walls scaling upwards to a stone room. To the right vines crawled up the wall next to a large tree that was facing another one just like it, either one having thick branches that almost touched the other. At the far end was another stone opening, a rather elegant entrance with a roof over it supported by two beams, a wooden door leading to another area, and this is where the two walked in.

Link was the first one through, and he stopped Misty right away. Misty looked around Link and noticed three large spider like things.

"Eew." She said, recoiling some.

"Look." Link said pointing down the hallway that the spiders guarded, and Misty noticed what it was that gave his voice a flat tone to it. There was another wood door at the end, and it was held tightly shut by thick metal chains. "We need a key." Link said as he turned around and ushered Misty back out the door.

"Where can we find a key already?" Misty asked, and Link sighed as he sat down on the steps under the stone roof.

"I don't know." He said as he rubbed his face with his hands. Misty looked around the small area, and her eyes trailed to the vines, up the wall to the tree, and then back down. Tapping her lips softly with one finger, she went over the surface again with her eyes before walking over to the wall. Grabbing the vines, she gave a hard tug, and when they didn't break away, began climbing up. Link lowered his hands and watched her after one of his questions went unanswered, and called out warning to be careful. Once Misty reached the top of one of the trees, she pulled herself up onto it and looked across to the other one. Moving carefully she made her way along the single branch, eyes narrowing as something caught her eyes.

"Hey there's a switch over there!" She called down to Link and made her way towards the other branch.

Link stood up and watched her carefully, but called out a warning to her as she neared the center of both branches. Stopping Misty looked down, and just then a skaltulah dropped down in front of her. Link pulled out the hook shot, making a quick end to the spider. Misty waved her hand in thanks before continuing on her way, gracefully jumping the small distance to the next branch, and then hurrying along it until she set foot on the trunk of the other tree, stepping on a golden switch. There was a small thunk behind her as a chest dropped down onto the trunk of the tree she had just come from. Turning around Misty made her way back over to it, and when she kicked the chest open, she smiled as she pulled out a key.

"Got it!' She called down to Link, and she quickly made her way back down the vines, surrendering the key over to him.

"Great, lets go." Link said and turned around going back inside. Misty followed Link as he took care of the three skaltulah's, and they ran to the door at the end. Link used the key to unlock the door and pulled the chains away. Walking through, they entered into a large circular room. To all sides there seemed to either be stairways leading to new doors, or paths leading down to other doors. In the center of the room was a square area, golden torches sitting on top of small stones at the four corners of what looked like an elevator. As they walked down the steps getting closer to it, there were four ghostly laughs, and four poes appeared above the four torches. The flames from the torches disappeared, and then reappeared on the torches that the poes carried. As the poes gave off another laugh, they turned away and disappeared, the elevator slowly slipping down into the ground, cutting off one of their paths.

"Shit." Link said running down to it and kicking the very top of the elevator.

"Looks like we're going to have to look for those poes and get those flames back to recall the elevator." Misty said coming up behind him.

Link just turned around and stared at her before sighing and walking towards the only open door, Misty following with narrowed eyes.

Link stabbed the stalfos once more and it crumbled to the ground in a heap of bones before it burst into a blue flame. A large chest suddenly appeared in the center of the room, and Link looked up at it as he wiped sweat from his forehead. Misty came from the corner she had been told to hide in, and opened the chest up.

"Yes!" She said, pulling out a bow, a quiver, and a bundle of arrows. "Now we can get those poes!" She said as she placed the arrows in the quiver, and then the quiver over her back.

"Hey why do you get that?" Link asked putting his sword and shield away as he walked towards her.

"I've gone through skalthulas, stalfos, hanging wall hand thingies, all without a weapon." She replied as she looked at him.

"Fine." Link said, moving out of the room and back the way they had come. Moving up the steps, he turned around and waited for Misty to catch up with the bow. The room they were in had two flights of stairs, and at three intervals hung portraits where an orange poe went between. Misty came up the steps and fired an arrow at one of the frames that held the poe, and the poe gave a laugh before it moved to the next frame as the one that had been shot burned up. Shooting the other two, Misty backed up some as the poe finally came out of hiding and went down to the small square room below. Running down, Link ran up to it with his sword drawn, slashing at it. The poe gave a small laugh and disappeared from sight. Moving back some, Link waited until it reappeared again before striking at it. Misty leaned against the wall as she watched Link go through the motions of hitting it and then backing off until it became visible once more. This lasted a couple minutes before the poe threw its arms up in the air and then vanished with one final cry. The torch that it had been carrying also vanished, and the orange flame moved over to the golden torch that was sitting next to the door.

"I'm sure the torch in the main hall is lit now." Misty said moving to stand next to Link.

"You're probably right." Link agreed looking over at her. He opened his mouth as if to say something, but he was cut off as Misty walked passed him towards the next door.

"Lets keep moving, there's still three more to go."

Link frowned, but closed his mouth and followed after her.

"Link move the bottom left one over to the right and then move the bottom left one up and we got it!" Misty yelled to Link who was pushing around heavy stone blocks.

They had just ran through a room whose ceiling fell down every minute or so, only to find themselves in a square room. The walls were a plain dark green stone, and there weren't many furnishings, only a small stage with a locked door, and a large portrait with a green poe displayed on it on the opposite side of the room from the door. Misty had climbed up on the stage to look around, and when she had shot the portrait, large blocks had fallen onto the ground. From her vantage point she could tell that out of the five, only four would be of any use to them. The four blocks each had small designs on them, and when pushed together, the designs would make the same picture as the portrait on the wall.

Sure enough, as soon as Link slipped the final block into place, they sank into the floor and the green poe appeared. This one attacked Link with the torch as soon as Link got into rang to strike it, causing him to roll out of the way as the it flew by him. He tried a couple more times but to no avail.

"Argh, Misty I can't get this one."

"Leave it to me Link." She answered his frustrated cry. Taking aim with her bow, she fired an arrow that struck the poe dead on. It backed away from her some as it disappeared, and she remained crouched down with another arrow drawn and ready. A couple seconds passed before the poe reappeared, and Misty shot it with an arrow again, this time the poe crept back closer to Link as it disappeared. The torch began spinning towards Link again, and Link jumped and dived out of its way, coming up with his back to Misty. The poe came into sight again, and Link gripped the handle of his sword, wondering if he would have to take care of it since he was so close to it and in Misty's line of view. There was a brush of wind next to Link head as an arrow soared past him, embedding itself in the poe, which gave a final cry and vanished. As the green flame flew through the air to light the golden torch next to the now open door, Link turned slowly to look at Misty.

"Three down and one to go." She said with a small smile on her face as she turned away from him, walking through the door. Link took in a deep breath to calm himself before following after her.

The door lead to a narrow stone hallway, and Link walked in front of Misty as they made there way down it in case something else was to randomly appear as had happened before. They walked through the door at the end of the hallway without incident, and out onto a large balcony over looking the main chamber. Link moved towards the edge, but before he could take more then two steps Misty grabbed a hold of his arm, pulling him back and whispering to him.

"What's that sound?"

Link paused and for the second time that day, he only picked up what another heard after stopping and listening for a moment.

"It's sounds like something crying." He said frowning and looking down at Misty.

"Yeah, but its so ghastly." She said looking up at him with a curious expression etched on her face. The two walked towards the edge of the balcony together, and what greeted their eyes made them both grateful and a little unnerved. The purple poe was sitting in the middle of the room on top of where the elevator was, which meant that they didn't have to go find it. What bothered them though was that it had its arm over its eyes, wiping away the tears that it was crying.

"I don't think it's too happy that we got rid of its sisters." Misty stated.

"I have a feeling that only the bow is going to be able to take it down." Link said looking at her before placing a hand on the railing. "And try not to mess it up." With that he swung himself over the edge and onto the small raised platform below. Turning around he held out his arms to catch Misty again.

"I'm not going to mess it up." Misty mumbled under her breath as she jumped over the side after him.

Jumping out of his arms as soon as she was down, she jumped off the platform without once looking back to him, making her way towards the poe, knocking an arrow. As soon as she stepped into the inner square, the poe jumped into the air, its torch lighting up with a purple flame. Misty prepared herself for its attack, but it never came. Instead the poe gave off a laugh, and then began to multiply itself. Soon she was surrounded on all sides by five copies of the purple poe, and she looked around with nervous eyes. She had no clue which one to hit, and she figured that she wouldn't get out unscathed if she picked the wrong one. Lifting her bow she fired randomly, and her luck seemed to be working today. It struck the poe and it flew back some, the copies disappearing before the original disappeared also. Misty began to turn around in a circle on the spot with the bow raised, waiting. Soon the poes came back, and out of the corner of her eye she noticed that one of the poes had done an extra turn. Shooting this one she smiled as it flew back. _'So this is your game'_ She thought to herself, and began to turn around again. Link watched on as she continued to pick out the correct poe time after time until the poe finally disappeared and the purple flame returned to its rightful place. Misty lowered the bow and smiled, but gave a small cry as the floor moved under her feet. Apparently she made moved onto the top of the elevator during her small battle.

Jumping from the top of the elevator, both she and Link stepped onto it, making their way downwards in silence. When it stopped, they found themselves in another large circular room. Stepping off the elevator, Link made his way towards the path that lead ahead, leaning on the bars that blocked the way.

"I can see the door leading to the boss room." He said, backing up some and observing the room.

"Boss room?" Misty asked tiredly, seating herself down on the floor of the elevator as she left Link to figure out how to get further.

"It should be the creature that's possessing the forest, we'll have to defeat it in order to lift the curse from the forest and free the sage." Link replied walking over to part of the wall that jetted out. Leaning against it he gave a mighty push, and the wall began to turn away from him, opening up a new path. Link ran around hitting switches that opened up new paths while Misty sat there and rested some. Finally he unlocked the path that lead to the boss room, and he took of running down the corridor. Misty got slowly to her feet, and followed after him a little less enthusiastically. When she walked through the door, she turned to the left and made her way up the two flight of stairs that lead to a large platform with spikes running all along the outer diameter, except a small opening that she walked through.

"There's nothing here!" Link complained as he brushed past her, making his way back down the stairs. "And now the door won't open!"

Misty ignored his yelling and stood in the center of the room, turning slowly around she looked up at all the portraits that hung on the walls. They were all the same: a dark path leading to a black castle off in the distance with dead trees lining it. Misty made a couple more turns, eyes scanning the pictures before turning around and making her way towards the stairs.

Just as she reached the opening though spikes shot up from the ground blocking her way. She stared at them for a moment in bewilderment before hearing a horse snort from behind her. Turning around she came face to face with Ganondorf. Letting out a scream she fell back against the spikes, hearing Link run up the steps behind her. When Link reached the top, he grabbed onto the bars and shook them once, glaring at Ganondorf. Before their very eyes, Ganondorf reached a hand up, pulling off his face. What looked like a boars skeleton replaced the face, burning blue flames and piercing red eyes. He let out a laugh, and his horse rose into the air and both ran into one of the portraits.

"This must be the dungeon boss!" Link cried from behind the bars. Misty gave a nod of her head and pushed herself back up, moving to stand in the center of the room. With her bow drawn she began to circle slowly, watching the frames carefully. Once she spotted the phantom Gannon riding towards her, she raised the bow, pointing it right at him. There was a purple portal as he began to exit the frame, and before he could make it more then halfway, she fired an arrow. It struck his horse right in the chest, and both horse and rider went back into the frame. _'It's just like the poes'_ She thought to herself as she reloaded. The next time she wasn't so lucky. She found a frame with him riding towards it, but right before he came out the horse turned away and galloped back.

"Watch out!" Link cried out to her. Misty turned around and watched as if in slow motion as Gannon soared over her with his staff pointing up, and a bolt of lighting seemed to fall from the ceiling. Misty dove to the side, and as the bolt hit the ground everything went back into play. Rolling away she looked behind her as the last crackle of electricity passed through the ground. Getting up she made her way back to the center of the room, determined not to let something like that happen again. Turning around she fired another arrow as the phantom came half way out of the portrait, and by the third time she was really starting to tire out. As the third arrow hit the horse, it suddenly disappeared, and phantom Gannon stayed floating in the air. Misty lowered her bow some, breathing hard, unable to continue on any longer. She watched with fearful eyes as Gannon swung his staff in the air, sending out a ball of electricity at her. The ball came on full force, hitting her square in the chest. Her body arced up some as she screamed, heat and pain coursing through her body. The bow fell from limp fingers and clattered to the floor.

"NOOO!" Link cried as he watched her form fall to the ground. Grabbing the spikes, he swung himself over them, ignoring the tearing flesh on his hands and the cuts into his legs.

"Watch out Link!"

Link turned at Navi's warning just in time to see another ball of electricity come at him. Without even thinking, Link pulled out his sword and swung it, sending the ball right back at the phantom Gannon. The ball hit him dead in the chest, and he fell to the ground clutching where it had made contact. Link, filled with rage, ran at him and slashed at him with the master sword. After a couple swipes the phantom swatted him back, and flew back up into the air, crossing over to the other side of the room. Spinning his staff again, he shot another ball at Link. Link stood back and hit it, but this time Gannon shot it back in return. The two returned fire back and forth, until Link slipped up and didn't swing his blade quick enough. Yelling out in agony, he gasped for breath, hand clutching at his chest, his eyes drifted over to Mistys' still form, and he pushed himself back up. _'She's not used to fighting, if I don't get rid of this thing fast she may not make it out of here.'_ Swinging his blade at the next ball he kept his wits about him, and the next time that the phantom feel, he went in full force. Every time that the phantom tried to get back up, Link pressed down harder. Finally the phantom Gannon gave out loud yell, and he was pulled through the air as if by some invisible force. A purple portal appeared in the middle of the floor, and then the real Ganondorf's voice sounded through the room.

"Hey kid, looks like you gained quit some skill. But you only defeated a phantom, when you fight the real me it won't be so easy. What a useless ghost, I shall banish it to the dimensions between the two realms!" The phantom cried out in pain as it began to fall apart, and soon the portal closed as the last piece of the phantom vanished.

Link wasn't paying much attention to any of this though, for as soon as he had realized that he had won, he had run to Misty's side. Lifting her head gently, Link looked down at her as he felt for a pulse. Navi was there too, and she was flying around Misty's mouth when she gave a joyous cry.

"Link she's alive! She must have just passed out.

Link gave a sigh of relief, and gently picked her up bridal style after slinging her bow over his back. Turning around, he walked towards the sparkling blue portal that had appeared after the phantom had vanished. Stepping inside he was soon enclosed by a blue crystal, and then teleported upward.

Suddenly he appeared in the sacred realm again, this time facing a green platform with the symbol of the forest on it. With Misty still limp in his arms, he watched as a green light shone forth and Saria appeared before them.

"Thank you..." She began. "Because of you, I could awaken as a sage…I am Saria, the sage of the Forest Temple. I always believed that you would come, because I know you. No, because it is destiny that you and I can't live in the same world. I will stay here as the forest sage and help you. Now please take this medallion."

Saria raised her arms over her head and there was another flash of green light. A green medallion floated down to rest in the air in front of Link for a moment before it turned into a green mist that circled both he and Misty. After it was gone, Misty gave a soft groan and opened her eyes. Link quickly set her back down on her feet, but before they could saw anything there was another blinding flash of white light and then Navi's voice.

"Saria will always be your friend…."

When Link opened his eyes again, they were in front of the old Deku tree, what caught Link's eyes though was a small sprout at the base of the once mighty tree. Taking a step towards it, Link leaned over, peering at it cautiously. The sprout shot up just then, knocking Link backwards onto the ground. Kneeling down next to him, Misty looked up and blinked a couple times as the sprout started talking.

"Hi there! I'm the Deku Tree sprout! Because you and Saria broke the curse on the Forest Temple, I can grow and flourish! Thanks a lot!"

Link pulled himself to his feet, and slowly walked towards the sprout as it continued to rant and rave.

"Hey have you seen your old friends? None of them recognized you with your grown up body, did they?" Link shook his head no. "That's because the Kokiri never grow up! Even after seven years they're still kids!" Blank look from Link. "You must be wondering why only you have grown up! Well, as you might have already guessed, you are not a Kokiri. You are actually a Hylian! I am happy to finally reveal this secret to you!"

The sprout then went on to tell them the story about how Links mother had come to the forest seeking shelter from the fires of war, and how she had entrusted Link to the Deku Tree before she had passed away.

"You are Hylian, and were always bound to leave this forest. And now you have learned your own destiny. So you know what you must do…"

"Save Hyrule?" Link said in a non-impressed voice.

"That's right, you must save the land of Hyrule! Now, Link, break the curses on all the temples and return peace to Hyrule!"

"Uh huh, I know." Link said as he slipped an arm around Misty's shoulders and pushed her gently away from the sprout towards Kokiri village. "The old one was annoying and so is this one." He stated, which earned a giggle from Misty. Link looked down at her quickly before looking forwards once more. "How are you feeling?"

"Tired, very very tired, and I hurt all over from the electric thing." She answered him, looking up to the sky as soon as they entered the main village. "Gah! No wonder I'm so tired!" She said pointing up.

Link looked up to catch the last dying rays of the orange sunset, and he had to bit back laughter as he replied.

"Well it didn't take us that long to do that dungeon." He joked.

"Yeah, only twenty four hours." Misty said jumping over the small pond that was located in front of the shop. "And add the six hours of traveling with you before that, no wonder I feel so peachy keen, and I need a shower." She said pulling at her hair some.

Link gave a small laugh, but he had to agree with her, he was grimy and could use a good nights sleep himself. Leading the way down the path, he passed two houses before making his way down the small incline that lead to his house. Making his way up the ladder, he turned once he reached the top and held out a hand to help Misty up. Once she was up, he made his way to the entrance and pulled aside a blanket.

"Welcome to my place." He said. Misty walked passed him and inside the house, eyes looking around as she moved. There were gardening tools here and there along the walls, along with shelves and other small items. There was a small table in the center of the room and then another one towards the far right side. Opposite of the door was a rather large window that was open leaving the night breeze waft in, and under that a small bed. Misty walked over to the bed and sat down, looking around once more.

"It's cute." She commented as Link began to unload his gear on the center table.

"Yeah I like it." He said as he turned to Navi, having a few quick words with her. When she nodded her small head and left the house, he turned around to speak with Misty again, only to find her fast asleep. Smiling, he walked over to the bed, and covered her with a light sheet to protect her against the small chill of night. Turning around he pulled off his gloves and then his green tunic so that he was standing in his light white shirt. Flopping it down on the table, he made his way outside, where he sat with his back against the wall of the house. Night had fully fallen, and he closed his eyes as he listened to the sounds of night in the forest, knowing full well that it could be awhile before he was back here again.

About twenty minutes later, the small blue fairy landed on top of one of Link's upraised knees, and he slowly opened his eyes to look at her.

"I spoke with them, everything will be set by tomorrow morning, the girls seemed especially excited to do this." Navi reported with a small yawn.

"Thanks Navi, I figured it's the least we could do after all the help she gave us. She's defiantly not a fighter, she shouldn't have to go through all this."

"Are you thinking about leaving her behind again?"

"No." Link said, giving his head a slight shake. "At first I thought Misty was just going to be a burden on us, and even though I had to pull her out of a couple tight spots, she's really looking after herself when to comes to what's important. She handled herself very well against the phantom Gannon, I was actually very surprised how quickly she figured out how to harm him. The same goes with the poes, in fact the dungeon in general. I know I would have been able to figure it all out eventually, but she's certainly saved us some time."

"Yeah, and besides the fact you're starting to warm up to her." Navi cut in, giggling some.

"I consider her more as a partner then a hindrance now." Link replied dryly, folding his arms across his chest.

"And is that why you spent those ruby's and got me to go through all that trouble of making those arrangements?" Navi asked looking up at him.

"I made the arrangements for both of us, we both need it after all the time spent in the dungeon, and at least this way she won't attract so much attention."

"Oh I don't know about that. Those Kokiri girls seemed to have an awful twinkle in their eyes. I think they're up to something."

"They probably are." Link said taking his hat off and shuffling down some. "We'll just have to wait until morning, for now we may as well get some sleep." He said, closing his eyes.

"Yeah you're right." Navi said curling up on his knee. "Oh, and Link?"

"Hmm?"

"Welcome back."


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Sorry I didn't get this up as soon as I had first stated that I would, but school is cray with my new courses and I pulled days of over time and double shifts so I had no time to write it up, that and I only have the laptop until 10:30 pm during the week since my comp is still broken. I want to thank all of you who have been reviewing, and a speacial thanks to ZombieDragon for telling me what you though, I will do as you asked :) I promise there will be some romance in the next chapter. And for any of you who asked me to look at something, I will as soon as I find time. And I will be having side things between dungeons, and this is the first one, hope you like it.**

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"Miss….miss? Hey wake up miss."

Misty groaned some as she opened her eyes, only to be greeted by the sight of two orange haired Kokiri kids. Blinking some she sat up in bed, the blanket Link had placed over her the night before falling partially off. Misty looked down at the sheet and smiled, fiddling with the corner before the two girls started up again.

"It's almost morning Miss, we have gifts for you. Please come with us for a relaxing morning, this is how we want to thank you for all you have done for us." They grabbed both of Misty's wrists, one on each side, and lightly tugged at her.

Stumbling out of bed, Misty looked around the room one last time before she was pulled outside. Stopping at the ladder as she waited for the first girl to climb down, she looked to the side and spotted Link, a smile appearing on her face again as she looked at him.

He was sprawled out on the ground, arms out to either side of him. His white shirt was grubby, as were his white pants. His hair was ruffled and sticking out at odd angles, and there were smudges of dirt and blood on his face. Navi who looked as perfect as ever was fast asleep on his chest.

As Misty climbed down the ladder she had to wonder exactly how bad she looked after seeing Link. Once she reached the ground, the two girls grabbed her hands again and pulled her up the small incline in front of Link's house. Pulling her along the path, they climbed up towards the Lost Forest. Losing herself again, Misty could only hope that they did actually like her and weren't going to leave her there to fend for herself.

They walked for a couple minutes when the log openings of the Lost Forest ceased, and they began to walk among large, thick trunk trees. Looking around Misty gave a small smile, watching the small lines of lights dance around the trees, and the different colored fairies that floated here and there. The twin orange haired girls looked back at Misty and giggled, taking and pulling her hands again. Misty's smile brightened, following after them as they walked around one very wide tree. What greeted her eyes around the turn made her jaw drop, and for once she was glad that she had been pulled into Hyrule.

Stretched out before her was a large opening in the trees, the whole ground covered in different colored pansies. In the center of the clearing was a large body of water with rocks spotting it here and there. There was one particularly large set of rocks in the dead center, and water fell from them as if it were a fountain. Even in the early morning dark, Misty could see the steam coming from the spring.

"Miss Navi made arrangements for us to take you here in order to thank you for all that you've done for us and the forest in general." One of the girls began, and then the second one chirped in. "We thought a relaxing morning in the hot springs watching the sun rise would be nice."

Misty stood there in a stunned silence before she walked towards the hot springs. Looking around she crouched down and dipped her hand in the water, the warmth of it making her relax some almost instantly. Standing up and turning to face the girls, Misty gave a bright smile.

"Thank you so much."

"It is our pleasure." The twins said in unison, and then the one on the right continued. "Please sit back and enjoy yourself, there are some scented oils on the rock ledge that you are free to use." Both gave one last smile and then they were gone.

Misty looked around at the slowly brightening forest around her for a couple more minutes before she quickly stripped off her damaged and dirty clothing and slipped into the water. Making her way out to the center pile of rocks, she looked at the assortment of different colored vials, opening each and smelling them. Once she found one that she liked, she submerged her head into the water, and once she resurfaced, set to work at cleaning herself up.

As soon as she was all clean, she sat in the hot springs with the water up to her neck, leaving her muscles relax fully as she watched the sun rise. Once the sun was up and the sounds of the birds' morning songs rang through the forest, Misty finally pulled herself out of the water and wrapped the towel that had been provided around her slender form. While Misty was wringing the water out of her hair, the twin girls walked back in with a bundle between them.

"We have one last gift for you." They said together and unwrapped the bundle.

Misty looked at what had been inside the package as they held it out for her to see. Misty's eyes scanned over it, and then a smile bloomed on her face as she spoke.

"Kickin'."

Link gave his head one last shake before slipping his hat on and then turned to Navi with his arms out to either side.

"What do you think?"

"You look much better Link; the morning at the springs did you good."

Link smiled at the compliment from the fairy and had to agree that even though it had been an early morning, it had been well worth his time.

The two guys he had first met at the house when he and Misty had entered the forest had woken him up before dawn. After learning that Misty had already left, they had taken him to another hot spring where he had let all the tension from his muscles wash away. Once the sun had risen the two boys had returned to the hot springs, bearing new clothing for him.

Looking at his reflection once more in the small waterfall, Link turned away and made his way back to Kokiri village.

"Where's our next stop?" Link asked Navi as they walked.

"If you remember the small poem Shiek said when we first met him then you should know. Since I doubt that you do remember though, it went something like: 'One in a deep forest', which would be the temple in the Lost Woods, and the second line was 'One on a high mountain' which would be death mountain, after all I don't know what other mountain he would be talking about. I wonder if the Goron's are in as much trouble as the Kokiri kids were because of the evil in their temple. I also have to wonder where that temple is located because Dodongo's cavern was already there, unless of course the temple is actually inside the volcano itself in which case we may have a bit of problem because it's so hot in there, you and I both know that we won't be able to last long inside there, remember we went there once seven years ago? Anyway we'll take care of that when the time comes. Even though I know you want to go straight to the next temple I really think we should go back to the Temple of Time where we first met Shiek. Perhaps he'll still be there and can tell us something useful. Even though we didn't trust him at first he is clearly on our side. If he wasn't, then he wouldn't have given that hint about Saria don't you agree Link?...Link? Link are you listening to me!?" The fairy chirped in his ear.

Link in truth was only half listening to what the fairy was saying at the moment. They had arrived back at the village and were walking to the log entrance that would lead them back out to Hyrule field. What had caught his attention though was the girl dressed all in green who was standing with two of the forest girls in front of the exit.

Hearing him approach, she turned around and smiled as Link stopped not too far away from her.

"Well?" Misty asked, hands on hips facing him. "What do you think?"

Link folded his arms over his chest and looked her up and down. She was now dressed in a short skirt with shorts underneath, her heeled boots stopping above her knees, four inches of skin showing between the bottom of the shorts and the tops of the boots. Her top was strapless; the bottom stopping three inches past her waist, a small belt hugging her slender waist. Added accessories consisted of a small choker around her neck and fingerless gloves that went up to her mid upper arm. Link honestly liked the whole outfit, but what made his chuckle slightly was the fact that she now matched him in his green tunic and hat. _'And I thought I attracted attention dressed all in green, now there are two of us.' _He thought to himself, though he didn't say that part out loud.

"Looks good, ready to go?" He asked, strapping on his equipment that one of the forest boys brought him.

"Sure." Misty said in a flat voice, as she also strung her quiver through her belt, slipping the bow over her so that it hung diagonally against her body.

"Then let's go." Link said walking past her and out onto the bridge that lead to Hyrule field.

Misty gave a small sigh, following after him. When she reached Epona Link was already seated, and he held out his hand to help her up. Misty ignored the hand and grabbed onto the saddle. Pulling herself up behind him, she grabbed onto the sides of his tunic lightly, clearly not happy about something.

Link in turn just looked ahead after his help had been refused, and walked Epona out of the small area that lead to the forest entrance, bringing her out into the open field. Before he could go much further though, Navi zoomed out of his hat, stopping right in front of his face.

"So Link, where are we going?" She asked, annoyance playing across her words.

"The Temple of Time to see if Shiek is still there and then up to see how the Gorons are since the next temple is up their way." He replied smartly.

"Huh, so you were listening." Navi commented before slipping back into his hat.

"But of course." Link said before Epona set off at a gallop towards castle town. Link couldn't help but wonder what was wrong with Misty, but he wasn't dumb enough to ask. He may have been sealed away for seven years, but he still knew woman could get vicious when bothered too much when something was wrong.

When they reached the broken draw bridge that lead to the market, Link waited until Misty got off before swinging his leg over and dropping down from Epona. Walking ahead of Misty he moved through the moat and stepped up the broken bridge and onto the short stretch inside the castle walls that lead to the main market. Stopping, he looked over his shoulder to give Misty a fair warning.

"What ever towns person was left when Ganondorf took over have been turned into the undead. Don't go anywhere near them, their cry will paralyze you on the spot. When we get to the main market we're turning left and keeping left until you see a wide pathway that leads to a set of stairs. The stairs lead to a courtyard and then to the Temple of Time. Understand?"

He waited until Misty nodded her head before he continued the rest of the way down the stone path, and walked into the large square market. As soon as he left the safety of the stone path that had been lined with houses on either side, he darted off to the left and ran towards the Temple of Time.

Misty followed after him, and really had intended not to look around, but as soon as she stepped into the market placed she stopped dead. She could remember coming here at night, and how she used to gaze around at the lovely market. Now though everything was different. The once quaint houses were now dark and gloomy, holes ripping trough both roofs and walls alike. The cobble stones that used to sparkle under the sun were now stained with dirt and blood.

Her gaze traveled over the stone, and fell upon a pair of dead brown feet. Her eyes trialed up the figure whose back was to her, and when the undead turned around and stared blankly at her, she let out a horrified scream. She knew that at one time the thing before her had been human, but now it could be called anything but. She could see every single bone of its skeleton perfectly under the dead brown skin, and after the initial shock of seeing it; she covered her mouth with her hands to keep from screaming again. There wasn't much to the face, and perhaps that's what had startled her the most. The face looked wooden; a perfect oval shape as if it were a mask. The mouth was just a small open black hole, but the eyes! Black circles that seemed to gaze at everything at once, and seemed to swallow everything whole with its endless look.

The thing let out a heart stopping scream, and all Misty could do was stare at it as it crept closer and closer, the sound of it dragging its feet echoing around her, and she felt as if she were drowning in those endless orbs.

As if from far off she heard someone yell, someone call her name. She was just vaguely aware of something grabbing her wrist and pulling her away. Her mind wanted her to lash out at the thing holding her wrist, but instinct told her to leave it be, after all the fingers that held her were warm.

Nothing seemed to register as she was hurriedly pulled along, not the stairs she climbed, or the dead grass that crunched under her feet. She seemed to be lost in a void of darkness, and then, all of a sudden there was light.

Pausing she looked around at the gray walls, the red carpet she was standing on and the large archway at the other end of the room that was behind a small dais which held three gleaming stones: one green, one red, and one blue. She was in the Temple of Time, of that she was sure. When the warmth left her wrist she turned to look to her side to see Link standing there, looking none too happy. She wanted to say something to defend herself for she knew she hadn't listened to his warnings, but no words came out. Letting out a small shaky breath, her knees gave out and she collapsed on the ground.

Link was by her side in an instant, his anger turning to concern as he looked at her pale face. Having some of the worst social skills in the world, Link did the only thing he could think of, which was what Saria used to do for him when she had found him after a nightmare. Placing one hand on her back, he rubbed her gently as he spoke some encouraging words in a soft voice.

"It's okay; those things had the same effect on me when I first encountered them. I don't blame you for freezing up, it happens so don't worry about it, at least you're safe." He thought that it was also partially his fault for not having shown her one before coming here. There had been one of the undead in the Forest Temple, but he had disposed of it before she had entered the room where it had been waiting.

"But those things were once people." Misty said in a small voice. "Good people."

"I know, and this is Ganondorfs fault, that's why we have to keep moving. The faster we awaken the sages, the faster we can be rid of Ganondorf and avenge these people." He replied standing up and holding a hand out to help her up.

Misty looked at the offered hand a moment and after a small nod, she whipped away the couple of tears that had escaped and stood up with the help.

Releasing her hand, Link turned and walked for the giant arch at the other end of the room, Misty following close behind. Together they walked into the old resting place of the Master Sword, and up the stairs to the first platform that surrounded the platform that held the pedestal. Shiek was on the second platform, to the right of the pedestal.

"You destroyed the wicked creatures that haunted the Temple and awakened the sage." He started as soon as they two had stopped moving. "But there are still other sages who need your help. In order to awaken all the other sages, you must become even more powerful. You must travel over mountains, under water, and even through time. If you want to return to your original time return the Master Sword to the pedestal of time. By doing this, you will travel back in time seven years. The time will come when you will have to return here quickly, I will teach this to you for when that time comes. The song to return you to the Temple of Time, The Prelude of Light."

Once again Sheik too out his harp and played a light melody, and Link soon took up the song with his ocarina. Misty closed her eyes as she listened to the song, and she swore that with each note the room became brighter, banishing the darkness from the room, but also banishing the dark shadows of doubt from her mind. Opening her eyes once more, Misty listened to Shiek's final words.

"As long as you hold the Ocarina of Time and the Master Sword you hold time itself in your hands. Link, we shall meet again!" With that Sheik again drew back his arm and dropped something that caused a bright light which Misty and Link had to shield their eyes from. When they could see again Link turned around and made his way out of the Temple of Time.

"Do you know where we're going next?" Misty asked, hoping that he did so he wouldn't ask her directions again.

"Yeah." Link answered, making her hopes rise again. "Death Mountain. Navi thinks we should go check it out because of the strange red cloud around it, and besides, Shiek did say we would have to go over mountains, and that's the only mountain I know of."

The two of them left the temple and ran through the market again, Link making sure that he stayed behind Misty in case she froze again. The last thing he needed was something happening to her; after all, Navi would surly blame him for it. Once they crossed the broken draw bridge, Link mounted Epona, aided Misty in getting up behind him and then turned the horse in the direction of the small bridge that ran over a river and lead to Kakariko village.

"It shouldn't be too bad a climb, should it?" Misty asked looking up at the looming mountain ahead.

"No, there's a very easy trail leading to the Goron city, I plan to stop there and speak with them to see if they know what's wrong with the volcano."

"Oh good." Misty said leaning back some to relax during the short ride. "This should be easy then."

Little did she know what she was getting herself into……

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**PS A/N: Well I hope to have the next chapter up beforeFeb. 23 since I will be going away for awhile after that, but I make no promises. Again if anyone has something they would like to read as a side chapter, please let me know and I'll add it if I think it fits. Please review, it makes writing so much more fun! Well thats all for now since it's 1:20 am here, I need sleep but I had to get this chapter up.**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N:ok here's the full version of Chapter 5, and again I'm sorry it took so long but I had a lot to do lately, things are starting to winde down though so hopefully I'll get the next chapter up soon. Please review because they do help me write, and if you have any requests of side chapters, please let me know :D**

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"You have got to be kidding me!" Misty cried as she walked to the edge of the platform they were on. "Tell me I did not climb all this way, avoiding being fed on by those red jumping spider things and being smushed by those big rolling rocks for this!" She held her arms out wide to the big empty cavern where the Goron's used to live.

Link sighed as he stayed back from the edge some, running his hands over his face in frustration. Misty wasn't as fit as he, but even Link had to admit that coming up the mountain had been more of a challenge than what he cared for, and it turned out they had done it for nothing.

"Hey." Misty called back, and when Link removed his hands from his face to look at her, he noticed she was leaning over the side to gaze down at one of the lower levels of the cavern.

"What's that little rolling thingy?" She asked pointing down with one index finger, and her hand seemed to move with what ever it was that she was looking at.

Walking over beside her and looking down, Link couldn't help but grin and bite back laughter.

"That." He began, "Would be a Goron."

"Uh huh." Misty said as Link looked around below them. The Goron was rolling around, and from past experience, Link knew it wasn't just about to stop on command. There was a stretch of wood that stuck out over the open cavern right in front of him, and Link carefully walked halfway out onto it. Standing to one side, he watched the rolling Goron, judging its movements.

Misty gave him a questioning look and walked to the edge of the plank, stopping with her hands on her hips.

"Link, what are you doing?"

Link ignored the question as the Goron drew nearer, suddenly pulling out a bomb and dropping it right in front of the moving Goron, all with a straight face.

"Oh my God!" Misty shrieked and covered her eyes. There was an explosion, followed by Link's snickers as Misty uncovered her face. She opened her mouth to yell at him, but then another male voice ran through the cavern.

"How could you do this to me? You, you're Ganondorf's servant! Hear my name and tremble! I am Link! Hero of the Goron's!"

At this it was Misty's turn to bite back laughter as she slapped her hands over her mouth. Glaring at her, Link stepped off the wooden plank and fell the short distance to the next level in front of the Goron, who uncurled himself and stood up at Link's protests that he did not work for Ganondorf, and the declaration of his name.

"What?" The Goron named Link said. "Your name is also Link? Then you must be the legendary Dodongo Buster and Hero Link! My dad is Darunia…Do you remember him?" At the nod of Link's head he continued. "Dad named me Link after you because you're so brave! It's a cool name! I really like it! Link, you're a hero to us Goron's! I'm so glad to meet you! Please give me your autograph! Sigh it: To my friend, Link of the Gorons." At the loud giggles of Misty, Link the Goron looked up at her for a moment, blinked a couple times, and then looked back down at Link.

"Oh….I guess it's not a good time to ask you for this….Please help everyone! My dad, Darunia, went to the Fire Temple, a dragon is inside! If we don't hurry up, even my dad will be eaten by the dragon! B-b-b-boooohooooo!" The little Goron began crying, and Link looked up to ask Misty what he should do, only to find her gone. Panic started to waft through him; he wasn't used to dealing with these types of things. Just when he was starting to get desperate, he felt a gentle touch on his arm. Looking down he was relieved to see Misty, who must have taken the stairs down to their level. She tapped lightly on his shoulder and he bent his head down for her to whisper in his ear.

"You'd better try to calm him down if you can….maybe he will calm down if you talk to him."

Giving his head one nod, Link looked back up to Link and asked the first question that came to mind. "What dragon?"

The Goron brushed away a couple tears and even though he was still shaking, he managed to speak. "A long time ago there was an evil dragon named Volvagia living in this mountain. That dragon was very scary! He ate Gorons! Using a huge hammer, the hero of the Gorons…Booom! Destroyed it just like that. This is a myth from long ago, but it's true! I know because my dad is a descendant of the hero!" With that said the little Goron went right back to crying.

Sighing some Link looked back down at Misty, who patted his arm and moved to stand in between them, speaking to Goron Link in a soft and gentle voice human Link had never heard before.

"And what of the others?"

"Everyone was taken to the Fire Temple" He began again through his sniffs, "While my dad was out…Ganondorf's followers came and took them all away. All of them will be eaten by Volvagia! Dad said that Ganondorf has revived Volvagia, as a warning to those who might oppose him; Ganondorf is going to feed them all to Volvagia! Dad went to the Fire Temple all by himself to try and save everyone. Please help Link! I'll give you this heat-resistant tunic and I'll open the shop so one can be made for her too."

A rumbling sounded throughout the cavern and Link could see the door to Darunia's room and the shop open up. Taking the tunic from the Goron Link, both human Link and Misty walked past him and along the wide platform to a set of stairs that brought them to the ground floor. They made their way into the shop in silence, where a single Goron stood behind the counter looking bored.

"Link wants you to make a heat-resistant outfit for her." Link said pointing to Misty.

At these words the Goron perked up and nodded his head vigorously.

"Yes yes yes, come right this way." The Goron said and took Misty by the hand, leading her off to a side room. Left behind, Link sighed pulling off his green tunic and hat. Pulling the red tunic and hat on, he replaced all his weapons where they belonged and held out his hands.

"Well I'm ready."

Navi giggled as she flew back under his hat, calling out to him as she did so.

"You're going to have to wait awhile for Misty"

And so he did.

* * *

What seemed like hours later, the Goron finally came back into the shop, clapping his hands in excitement.

"Her outfit is all done, she looks very lovely!"

Link had to silently agree as Misty stepped into view. She was once again in a pair of shorts that went down to mid thigh, though this time her boots only came up to the bottom of her knees. Her shirt was more like a jacket then anything. It had a high collar and the bottom fell all the way to the floor. The top front of it though was cut into a low v-shape, and the bottom was cut down in front starting at the base of her ribs so that she had plenty of movement. Of course, again it was all in the same red as his tunic.

Link eyed her for one more moment, gave a smile and then turned towards the door of the shop.

"Alright then let's get going." He said, taking one last look at Misty before walking out.

Misty smiled brightly at his retreating back, turning she gave the shop owner a big hug, and then ran after him.

The two tuned left once exiting the shop and made their way towards Darunia's room. Walking towards the large monkey looking statue that stood at the back of the room, Link stopped and put his hands onto his hips. Before he could say anything though, Misty pointed out something from her position to the side.

"Hey I think I see something past this statue."

Leaning over Link looked at the small hole in the corner of the statue and the wall. Frowning, he walked over to the statue, moved his hands over it until he got a grip and pulled. The statue moved after a couple moments, and after a small nod of congratulations, the two walked though the new doorway, and into what Misty thought would have to have been hell on earth.

They had entered into Death Mountain Crater, the temperature inside being hot enough to bring a slight sheen of sweat to their bodies even with the heat resistant tunics. To the right of them a suspended bridge made a path to another ledge, but Link moved to the left, where a now half broken bridge hung.

"You're serious?" Misty asked coming up next to him at the ledge.

"Yep." Link answered then pointed above the still intact part of the bridge. "Look we can hookshot onto that, and besides I can see the pedestal that marks a temple on the other side of this bridge."

"Fine." Misty said as Link wrapped an arm around her, wrapping both her arms around him in turn.

Link pulled out the hookshot, and before she knew it, they were on the other side. As Link put the weapon away, Misty began to walk across the bridge, only to be stopped by a figure that landed on the other end of the bridge.

Sheik began to walk forward, as per usual with a little speech.

"It is something that grows over time….a true friendship. A feeling in the heart that becomes ever stronger over time. The passion of friendship will soon blossom into a righteous power, and through it, you will know which way to go. This song is dedicated to the power of the heart….Listen to the Bolero of Fire."

With that Sheik played the first notes of the song, with Link joining in soon after. The sweet melody drifted off the volcanoes walls, and the thoughts of Misty's two dearest friends clouded her mind for awhile. She began to wonder why she was here, why she was even bothering to help. All she had to do was look over at Link to remember why, and when Sheik began speaking again, her mind was back on the task at hand.

"Link, I'll see you again…"

Link began walking towards Sheik, but a great burst of fire came up between them. Sheik backed away, used a deku nut, and vanished.

Link sighed and shook his head as the fire died down, and then walked down the rest of the bridge, moving left and through a large stone archway. When Misty followed after him, all she saw was a stone platform with a ladder leading down.

"The temple must be down there, it's a long way down so watch your step." Link said as he swung himself down the ladder. Misty moved carefully as instructed, and after what seemed like forever, hit the bottom floor. Turning around, both entered the Fire Temple together.

The first thing they came to was a large staircase, three large statues at the top, a door to the left of the statues, and a pile of blocks to the right.

"Let's go." Link said and moved towards the stairs. Misty began to follow, but a warning bell rang in her head, and she lunged for his arm, pulling back.

"Link wait!" She said, and just then flames shot up from the bottom step. Link stared at them for a moment before looking down at Misty.

"How did you know?" he asked, not bothering to mention anything about the fact that she had just saved him from getting a serious burn.

"I don't know, something just told me."

Link regarded her for a moment longer before he climbed up the stones made for a railing and jumped the fire, making his way up to the door.

"There're bars across it." He called out, than mumbled under his breath.

Misty looked around the area, trying to figure out how to get through the door, and then her eyes fell onto the statues. They looked like faces with their mouths open, and one had a fire burning in his mouth. Eyes falling back down to the fire that roared in front of the steps when she drew near.

As Link watched, Misty climbed the stone railing and stood in the center of the platform. She took one step back, grabbed something out of her pocket, brought her arm up and around, and when whatever was in her hand hit the ground, fire erupted around her. The shield of fire moved out and away from her, lighting the statues and the torches they hadn't seen on the stone railing, while behind him, the door opened.

"How did you do that?" Link demanded as Misty moved towards him. She in turn simply shrugged her shoulders, opening the door into the next room, forcing Link to follow. As soon as they entered, a booming, familiar voice greeted them.

"Who's there? Is that you Link?"

"Yes Darunia it is I." Link called back to the large Goron on the other side of the room.

"Oh, it really is Link!" Darunia continued. "You've grown so big since I last saw you! I want to have a man-to-man talk with you, but now's not the time. Ganondorf is causing trouble on Death Mountain again! He has revived the evil ancient dragon Volvagia! On top of that, he is going to feed my people to that evil dragon as a warning to other races that might resist him. If that fire-breathing dragon escapes from the mountain all of Hyrule will become a burning wasteland! I will go on ahead to try and seal up the evil dragon. I'm concerned though, because I don't have the legendary hammer…but I have no choice. Link…I'm asking you to do this as my sworn brother. While I'm trying to deal with the dragon, please save my people! The prisoners cells are in the opposite direction. I'm counting on you Link!"

With that Darunia entered into the boss room, leaving Misty and Link just standing there.

"Great." Link said, "We always have to do the rescue missions first, and find a way to get to the boss door"

* * *

Link just watched in an amazed silence, shaking his head as his eyes followed Misty running around down below. They had entered a large room with walls created a large maze, and had gone around without finding the key to unlock the door that was currently behind Link. He had stood there talking to Navi when Misty had suddenly grabbed his arm and asked for his bombs and hookshot. Since they had nothing better to do he had handed them over without another thought. There had been an explosion, and that was when he just stood there, watching her. She had disappeared behind a wall, and then five minutes later a Goron had come into view, shortly followed by Misty, who was now jumping from the top of the last wall over to the platform he was on.

"Found the key!" Misty said a little breathlessly as she held out the silver key.

"I don't even want to know how you found it." Link answered laughing as he took it from her, unlocked the door, and pushed away the chains.

The next room they entered into curved around to the left. To the right was a higher area where a door was located, and a lower area to the left with a gate surrounding it with another door and a large blue button. The whole floor was completely covered in lava, the only way to move throughout the room were chain platforms that fell from the ceiling.

Link was the first to jump from the entrance platform, and then turned around to make sure Misty was alright following. Moving to the second chain platform, one that had a pillar with a torch on either side of it, Link stopped and looked around. The door on the right had strong iron bars locking it, so he turned to face the lower one to the left. There was another stone platform above it with a large crate and two smaller boxes on it. Looking over to Misty, Link smiled and held his arm out to her, while he pulled out the hookshot with the other.

Misty simply shook her head and moved to him, wrapping her arms around him as he held her, aiming the hookshot at the crate. Latching onto it they were pulled through the air, landing onto the platform and then dropping down onto the ground. Both moved through the door, and Misty stopped dead.

Again there were only two doors, one to the far right, and the other to the far left. The problem she had was that the only way to get to the doors was along a very narrow path of rock that lead from their door to the center of the room and then branched off, with nothing but a long drop back down to the room to the right of the entrance. The walls were the dark red and black stone of a volcano, and the breeze that swept up from below was hot.

_'That looks like a twenty foot drop if not more.' _She thought to herself as she turned back the way they had come, only to find that the door was closed by strong iron bars.

"Just be careful." Link said as he walked out onto the path.

"Easy for you to say." Misty answered, but followed after him anyway. She walked with one foot in front of the other, arms out to the side to keep her balance, moving slowly and swallowing every time she could hear rocks break away from the path under her feet. She moved as carefully as she could out to the center where the paths branched off, but when she made the turn to go down the left path, her foot came too close to the edge, the rocks crumbled away from under her foot.

"Link!" She screamed, but she was already falling. Before she fell from sight, she saw Link turn around with a look of what she thought was fear in his eyes.

As she watched the pathway fall away, she closed her eyes and prayed to whatever being ruled over Hyrule that they would let her have a quick death, or even send her back home to her own time before she hit the ground. Even with the fear of what would come, mixed with the wind whistling past her ears, she managed to open her eyes again to face what was to come, and her mouth dropped open as strong arms wrapped around her.

"Hang on tight and don't let go!" Link commanded as he slipped one arm around her waist, the other moving to protect her head.

Misty did as she was told, still in shock that he had jumped from the path to come after her.

The two of them fell through the air, and just before they hit the ground, Link twisted in the air so that he got the full force of the impact. They rolled along the bridge that was suspended above another pool of lava, finally coming to a stop a few moments later. Staying where she was for a moment with her eyes closed, Misty took a metal survey of herself to see if she was hurt or not. When nothing screamed pain, she gently pushed herself up on Link, looking down at him, words not even coming to her lips as she looked at him. Link in turn just groaned a bit before opening his eyes, smiling as he pushed himself up on his elbows, eyes meeting Misty's.

"Are you alright?" He asked gently.

Misty could only give her head a small nod, blushing faintly when she realized how close she was to him. A wave of relief washed over Link at her nod, and he sat up a little closer to her, one hand holding him up, the other going to rest on her hip. Their faces were very close together, and Misty had the sudden erg to just lean in a bit more to close the gape between their lips. Just when she was about to move, a small ball of light came in between them, Navi's voice coming out in an almost shriek.

"Are you two alright!?! One moment you were both behind me, and then the next thing I know I see Link jumping off the path!"

As Link told the fairy what had happened and reassure her that they were alright, Misty jumped back up on her feet and began moving around to collect the arrows that had fallen from her quiver during her fall. Not all of them had made it, but there was still a large enough number to use until she found some more. Once everything was back in place, the two once again made their up through the temple.

* * *

Misty had to bit her tongue to keep from screaming as the air rushed past her. It wasn't bad enough that she had fallen a long way once already, but they were doing it again.

They had found a large pillar in one room, and after they had climbed on top, Link had struck down with the megaton hammer they had found, and the pillar had dropped from under their feet. Now they were falling again, Misty clinging to Link's neck as he held her bridle style.

Soon enough there was a large bang as the pillar stuck into something, and then a thud and shiver as Link's feet hit the ground, his legs and body absorbing the impact for the two of them.

Opening her eyes as he set her back on her feet, Misty realized they were in the room where they had first met Darunia, the pillar landing so that they now had access to the boss room.

"Awesome." She said as Link laughed and both jumped to the boss door. Link unlocked it with the big key they had found and pushed away the chains as he opened the door, both walking in together.

There was a gigantic stone dais in the center of a giant lake of lava, small circular pits spotting it. There was another stone platform between were they stood and the main arena.

"Let me go first." Link said jumping to the platform and then to the large dais.

When nothing happened Misty moved to follow him, but then the ground began to shake as if the volcano was going to erupt, and the platform between them sunk into the lava. Link turned around, but when one of the pits behind him began to erupt, he turned back around to watch as a huge serpent like dragon flew out of the pit and into the air. Volvagia circled around the dais, roaring, and shot a line of flame just past Link's head before diving back into the pit of lava.

"Link, when she comes back out hit her with the hammer and then with your sword!" Misty yelled out to him, going down to one knee and knocking an arrow.

Link didn't even ask how she knew that too. As soon as Volvagia exited another pit, sitting there for a moment resting her arms on the stone, Link ran over and smashed her head with the hammer. Letting out a roar she collapsed to the ground, and Link struck her with his sword. Again she went under, and then came out of another pit, but this time she rose all the way into the air. Link backed up some, but then an arrow shot over him, hitting Volvagia in the head. She let out a scream and then dove back into a lava pit. Link turned around and nodded his head at Misty, who smiled back and got another arrow ready.

Link struck Volvagia again with the hammer and sword combo and then backed away so Misty wouldn't have to worry about hitting him instead. As he suspected the dragon rose fully out of the lava pits, moving upwards. Misty loosed an arrow, and cursed when she missed, and then realized something. Turning to look at Link, she shouted a warning to him.

"Link move down the side of the dais! She's out of my range; she's going to knock boulders from the ceiling."

Sure enough boulders began to rain down, forcing Link to climb down the side, carefully finding foot and hand holds. As soon as the rocks stopped falling, he was back up again, and the two fighters went through the trials again and again. Link found the battle to be overly easy, for nor he or Misty got hit once, Misty even managed to hit the dragon twice while she circled in the air once and awhile.

What seemed like not too long after the battle started, Volvagia reared up grabbing her head and sunk back down into the lava pit. A few seconds later she came up from the center pit and began to madly circle in the air, her body very close together. Suddenly her tail caught fire, and the fire slowly ate away her skin all the way up to her head with one final scream from her. The bones dropped around Link, and he turned to face Misty, voicing the concern he had since the battle started.

"How are you going to get over here?"

"Don't worry about me Link, I'll get myself out. You go on ahead to meet the sage and I'll meet up with you outside." Misty answered cheerfully.

Link only hesitated a moment before he turned around and entered the blue portal that would take him to the Chamber of the Sages.

Misty watched him disappear, and then sighed as she looked down to the boulder that had landed on the bottom of her jacket like shirt, trapping her in place.

"You seem to have the habit of getting yourself into trouble." A woman's voice said, and a figure suddenly appeared.

"That I do." Misty said smiling. There was a flash of light and the boulder keeping her in place vanished. Standing up Misty gave the figure a hug and then backed up a step. "So you going to get me out of here?"

The figure laughed and nodded her head, and there was another bright flash, and the two of them were gone.

* * *

Link landed lightly on the center triforce of the Chamber of the Sages, this time facing the pedestal for the fire sage. As the blue light faded, Darunia appeared, smiling to him as he spoke.

"Thank you, Brother! I really appreciate what you did. I thank you on behalf of the entire Goron race! You turned out to be a real man, just as I thought you would! By the way, I, the wild Darunia turned out to be the great sage of fire. Isn't that funny, Brother? Well, this must be what they call destiny. Nothing has made me happier than helping you seal the evil here! Hey, Brother, take this! This is a medallion that contains the power of the fire spirits—and also my friendship." He said and raised his hands above his head. Just as with Saria, a red medallion appeared above Link before turning into a red light that seeped into him and then vanished.

"Don't forget….now you and I are true brothers." Darunia's last words echoed around him as he was swallowed by a bright light.

Opening his eyes, Link looked around the death mountain crater standing on the dais of the Fire Temple. He smiled slightly as he watched Misty stand from her seat on the ground, moving towards him. Together they took once last look at the Fire Temple and then made their way back towards the broken bridge that lead back to the Goron city.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: So sorry it took me so long to get this chapter up, but you know I had exams and then Graduation and then work so it took me that long to write this all up, but it's longer then the others so that makes up for a little bit of the wait right? Anyway thanks again for all those who reviewed, it kept me going during exam week smiles Well here's hoping you like this one!**

* * *

Misty tried to focus on the words in front of her but no matter how hard she tried her mind kept drifting back to the Fire Temple. Hearing laughter erupt from down below she let a smile slip onto her lips.

When they had finally exited the Goron Cavern the sun was just beginning to set, so Navi had suggested they just stay the night in Kakariko village. Remembering the house nearest the graveyard belonged to the cucco lady Link had helped as a kid; they had sought her there and had been greeted warmly.

After getting cleaned up, Link had stayed on the ground level to joke around with the other's while Misty had moved upstairs to sit at the table and read to get her mind off what had happened at the temple.

Hearing the door open, Misty stood up to peer towards it just in time to catch a small glimpse of Link as he left. Frowning some she closed the book she had been attempting to read and pushed back her chair. Pausing for a moment she moved as quietly as she could down the stairs, slipping along the wall and out the door without anyone noticing her.

Once outside she walked down the steps and past an abandoned house, all the while looking for Link. As she passed the archery building and turned the corner, she spotted him standing next to the well in front of the windmill. Stopping again, she folded her arms across her stomach as she observed him.

Like her he was still dressed in his heat resistant tunic, unlike before though he carried not a single weapon, no belt so that the tunic hung loosely over him, and no hat to hide a fairy so she knew he was alone. Taking in a deep silent breath she made her way towards him. She was a few steps away from him when Link turned around and gave a brief smile. He watched as Misty walked up and stopped close to him, and when she looked up at him he met her gaze for gaze and that same odd feeling from before washed over him by being so near.

"Link, why did you do it? Why did you jump after me?" She asked and he could tell that the question meant a lot to her.

"I don't know." He said honestly, placing one hand on his hip, the other moving to run through his hair. "I guess I just didn't think you would be able to handle the pain from the fall."

At those words Misty let out a bark of laughter shaking her head. "We both know I could have handled it, after all I was shot by that phantoms Ganon's dark power."

"Yeah I know, I guess…" He started, leaving his hands fall to his side again as he looked deep into her eyes. "I guess I just didn't want you to get hurt. When you called out my name and I saw the fear in your eyes I reacted without thinking."

"Oh." Misty said lowering her gaze and blushing some, secretly thanking the darkness.

"Why don't we go fishing tomorrow?"

At the very random question Misty raised her eyes back up to him. At first she thought that he was only joking, but there was a sincere look in his eyes.

"Sure." She said giving a soft smile.

"Alright then, we had better get back up to the house since we have to get up early tomorrow morning." Link said moving towards her.

"Oh great." Misty said turning with him as they made their way back towards the house.

"What? It'll be fun." Link said laughing again as he casually placed an arm around her shoulders.

"Of course, because I love getting up that early after going through a dungeon." She said sarcastically, too caught up with the joking and the teasing to really notice Link pulling her a bit closer.

Misty blinked a couple times as she made her way down the steps that lead from Kakariko village back to Hyrule Field, Link already waiting for her at the bottom seated on Epona. As she moved she tugged at her green shorts, both she and Link had changed back to the green since their red clothing was ripped from going through the dungeon, and mumbled under her breath about what time it was as she allowed Link to pull her up behind him.

The sun hadn't even risen as they rode away from the village. As they past over the small stone bridge where Link had first found Misty, his gaze lingered out on the water for a moment before going straight again.

Misty didn't pay attention to her surroundings in the least. Her eyes were dead set on the ground, hands lightly held together around Link's waist, head against his strong back, watching the ground pass by. She watched the grass roll past, saw the edge of a giant boulder, dirt path, corner of a fence, and then more dirt path.

"Better hold on tighter." Link said dragging Misty from her absent state of mind.

Sitting up straight she noticed that they were nearing two large fences, one behind the other, blocking the way to another section of Hyrule. As Epona jumped into a run, Misty wrapped her arms tightly around Link's waist, keeping her back slightly bent. Just as Epona leapt for the first gate, Misty looked to the right at a dark dirt place leading from the main field and wondered where it lead. Her thoughts were jarred though when Epona hit the ground and leaped once more for the second gate. As the horse and riders hit the ground again Link turned slightly in the saddle to speak to Misty.

"You'll love Lake Hylia; it's one of our small wonders."

Misty just smiled back as they topped a small hill, a smile that slipped off to wide eye shock at what greeted the riders.

Lake Hylia was no more, almost completely drained of all her water, storm clouds formed over head, and rain starting to fall to the ground. Link stared at the place in disbelief as he slowly moved Epona towards where the waters edge used to be. Looking around through the rain, he nudged her to go farther, passing the stone structure that lead to Zora's Domain. As he was halfway across the bottom of the lake, he paused and turned his head slightly to speak to Misty again.

"Can you go back to that structure we just passed and go see how the Zora's are? That opening at the bottom will lead you right to their domain."

Nodding her head Misty slipped off the back of Epona and back tracked as he move forward. Even before she got there she knew something was terribly wrong, for the opening he had told her would be there seemed to be frozen over. Her fears were confirmed when she reached it and placed her hand against the cold, hard, thick ice.

"Link?" She called out gently, and had to repeat his name louder for him to hear her. As soon as he rode up behind her she turned to face him. "I have a really bad feeling about this." She said as he jumped off Epona, taking the three steps that brought him to her.

He looked down at her and rose a hand to gently brush away a couple of wet strands of hair that had plastered to the side of her face, giving her a small reassuring smile, but then his eyes focused behind her to see the ice blocking the entrance to Zora's Domain. A wave of unease washed over him as he stared at it, but he gave himself a mental shake when he felt Misty shift. Looking down at her again his expression was grim, and she simply nodded her head, knowing that they had to go to Zora's Domain.

Turning around Link remounted Epona, pulling Misty up behind him. Without looking back they rode the way they had come, and again Misty seemed to ignore the whole trip, or rather most of it. She noticed when Epona pulled left and she looked around to see that they had come to the entrance of Kokiri forest.

"Why are we here?" Misty asked as Link jumped off Epona and lifted his arms up to help her off.

"I haven't been through the direst path to Zora's Domain in a long time. I don't want to bring you through there without knowing what's happened to the Zora's." He answered as she slide from the saddle and into his arms. Misty opened her mouth as if to argue, but he held up one hand to stop her, the other still around her waist holding her close.

"I know you've been through two dungeons without my knowing what was there, but the path was hard enough to go through seven years ago. There are cliffs to jump off of and rivers to jump over and wade across, I just don't want to take a chance, I need you in the next dungeon." He finished and smiled. When Misty closed her mouth again he took that as a sign of acceptance and took her hand and led her across the bridge from Hyrule field into Kokiri forest.

As soon as they entered it he pulled her to the left and up towards the Lost Woods again. This time when they went through Misty could remember the way they were currently taking as the same way they had taken to the Forest Temple before. They came out into the area where they had first met a forest kid who had spoken about a girl named Saria, but instead of leading her through the arch way, Link walked her to the edge of the small, deep pond she had seen before.

"You see that opening in the stone down there?" Link asked her and continued when she nodded. "We need to swim through there, that will take us right next to the path to Zora's Domain, think you can do it?"

At Link's question Misty just gave him an 'oh please' look. Walking to the very edge of the water, she gave a small leap and dove almost the whole way to the bottom. Giving a few powerful swipes of her arms, she was through the opening. The water shimmered around her as she went through a small tunnel, and then suddenly it grew cold.

It was only a moment before she was through, kicking up for the surface. As soon as she broke through the water she noticed that it was snowing. Moving to the edge she pulled herself from the water, stepping from the small alcove the deep pond entered into, and along a small rock path that ran along in front of a waterfall. Stepping along the path she stopped when the ground became stone and looked down at the writing that was there.

"It says: 'Sleepless waterfall. The flow of this waterfall serves the King of Hyrule. When the King slumbers, so too do these falls.'" Link said coming up next to her. Eyes on the waterfall, he pulled out his Ocarina and played a soft lullaby. The water pouring down the falls began to slow almost to a stop and a path right in front of them appeared.

Link jumped across the small gap between the rock path and the path leading behind the waterfall and then turned to help Misty across before the two of them entered Zora's Domain. Once they were passed the cave walls Link stopped dead. The whole place was frozen solid, snow falling from the open cave where another great waterfall fell into a large lake. Misty gazed around and didn't even need to see Link's face to know his pain. She had often come here in her dreams, it had been such a beautiful place and the Zora's had looked so graceful swimming around.

When Link started moving across the rock path that led up to the throne room Misty followed in silence. They walked slowly up the steps dreading what they would find, and their emotions were given reason for what they were when they topped the stairs.

"He's frozen!" Link said wide eyed as he moved up the steps of the small platform where others could address the King of the Zora's. The king himself sat where he had seven years ago atop a small waterfall that was fed by the large lake behind the throne room where the Zora's guardian Lord JabuJabu lived. The King was frozen stiff, encased in what appeared to be some form of red ice that formed something like a diamond shape around him.

As Link stared hopelessly as him, Misty moved along the rock path to the right of the platform, slowly moving upward until she came out near the King. Walking over to him, she extended her hand out to touch the ice. Link suddenly spotted her and what she was about to do and his face paled.

"Don't touch him!" He cried out, knowing from experience that when touching ice, it usually meant freezing yourself at the same time. Turning around he dashed up the path that lead up to the small waterfall and came out right behind her, amazed that she wasn't frozen.

"The ice….It's not cold." Misty said and turned around to look at him. Link moved next to her, placing his own hand on the ice, and sure enough, it wasn't cold under his touch, in fact it was rather warm.

"The waters open." At Misty's next words Link turned to watch as she slowly moved towards the area where Lord JabuJabu lived, her feet starting to slosh through the water.

Moving out behind her, they made their way through the small tunnel and then out into the open where the guardian used to live, Link making his way slowly up the stairs of the dais where he had first met the fish. Where he used to be was now a large ice berg, and Link slowly made his way up that also, careful not to slip on the ice, Misty followed close behind. Most of the lake was still open, with ice bergs here and there. Looking out across it he noticed a cave opening in the wall that he had never been able to reach as a kid.

"The ice bergs lead to that cave." Misty said, having noticed the same thing as Link. He in turn simple nodded and smiled at her.

"One…two…."

"Three!" She shouted out the last number with him, and both jumped from the higher ice berg down to one of the lower ones.

As soon as their feet hit the ice, the ice berg began tilting their way. Slipping some, Link shoved Misty as hard as he could towards the center of the ice to try and balance it out while trying to catch his own footing and stay on the ice. Misty slide across the ice, and as she did so, she took out an arrow and jabbed it down into the ice to slow herself down. Once she had come to a stop and the berg began to balance out she let out a sigh of relief, and then noticed one of the purple octopus things like she had seen in the Forest Temple was staring at her from a couple feet away. It jumped out of the water and shot out what looked like a yellow rock at her. Giving a small cry Misty brought up her arm and closed her eyes on instinct. There was a loud _thwack _of something breaking apart, and upon opening her eyes Misty saw Link's arm up in front of her with the shield, blocking her from the attack.

"Keep moving." Link ordered wrapping an arm around her waist and pulling her to her feet. The two of them jumped from ice berg to ice berg, rolling and dodging the flying yellow rocks the octorok shot at them. Eventually they reached the cave opening, Misty slightly out of breath, and they moved into the cavern.

Misty moved ahead of Link coming close to the corner when Link called to her.

"Be careful."

Misty paused a moment to call back to him.

"Yeah yeah I know." She said and turned around just as a boulder passed in front of her, crashing into a wall. "Oh my God boulder!" She cried and jumped back. Link came up behind her laughing, though he silenced himself when she glared back at him.

"Sorry." He apologized and moved in front of her so she wouldn't get another surprise. They moved carefully along the corridor, the floor covered in snow, being careful to avoid falling icicles as they moved. Finally they came to a large room, the floor completely covered in ice. In the center of the room was some sort of ice sculpture and two spider things that Misty had learned were called Tektite's.

"I'll handle this." Link said and slide into the room. He took one swipe at one of the Tektite's when the statue opened its mouth and blew freezing air onto Link, turning him into a frozen block of ice.

"Oh my gosh Link!" Misty cried. "What is that thing?" She asked Navi as she slid into the room firing arrows at the Tektite's and taking them out.

"It's a Frezzard! Watch out for its freezing breath! Destroy it completely before it revives." Navi answered as Link broke through his ice prison. Quickly he cut through the frezzard before looking back to Misty.

"Thanks." He said.

"No problem, we're a team. I took out the Tektite's and you took out Mr. Giant Freezy." She answered laughing some as they moved on.

The rest of the cavern was very much the same thing, the two of them going through rooms of ice and working as a team. Misty had scared Link at one point, putting her hand through blue fire, but when she pointed out that it was actually cool, Link bottled it and discovered they could melt the red ice with it.

"When we get back to the Zora King I bet we can unthaw him with it." Misty said as they moved down a long corridor.

"Probably can." Link agreed as they moved to a door made of ice. "And now I believe we've made it to the end." Opening the door they moved into another snow covered room, but the walls were the most beautiful thing Misty had ever seen. Moving up to one she placed her hand against it. It was pure black, but over it were snow shaped designs with crystal blues. Hearing a bit of commotion, she turned around to see Link dealing the final blow to a Stalfos, and then a chest appeared.

"How…did I miss that?" She asked as Link opened the chest and pulled out a pair of iron boots.

"The walls enchanted you." A familiar voice answered, and both turned around to see Shiek.

"We meet again Link." He said and the two walked towards him as he continued. "If you came here to meet the Zora's, you wasted your time…This is all there is…With one exception, the Zora's are now sealed under this thick ice sheet…I managed to rescue the Zora princess from under the ice, but…she left to head for the Water Temple…This ice is created by an evil curse…The monster in the Water Temple is the source of the curse. Unless you shut off the source, this ice will never melt. If you have courage enough to confront the danger and save the Zora's, I will teach you the melody that leads to the Temple. Time passes, people move….Like a river's flow, it never ends…A childish mind will turn to noble ambition, young love will become deep affection, the clear waters surface reflects growth. Now listen to the Serenade of Water to reflect upon yourself."

Pulling out his harp Shiek played a gorgeous Serenade with Link joining in. The melody was so soft and sang of remembrance, but again it was over all too soon for Misty.

"Link, I'll see you again." Shiek said backing up and again vanishing.

"Well, out we go then." Link said and the two turned and left through a new path that Link could reach by using the iron boots by means of a water tunnel.

Climbing their way back up to the Zora's throne room, Misty stood next to the King while Link stood on the dais.

"Hope this works." Misty said and opened a bottle of the blue fire, spilling it onto him. The flame fell out and licked up the red ice, and soon it slowly began to melt. They waited a few tense seconds when the ice disappeared before the King slowly began to move again.

"Oh—I've come back to life!" He cried and then spotted Link. "Was it you who saved me? Don't be nervous! It looks like you have a hard time breathing under water. As an expression of my gratitude, I grant you this tunic. With this, you won't choke under water." King Zora finished and handed over a blue tunic to Link.

"Thank you, but what about my friend? She was the one who found the means to save you." Link asked as he took the tunic and pointed to Misty as she came up to stand next to him.

"Oh well….go see the shop keeper and tell him to make her a costume suit. She has the figure to make a wonderful outfit." He said smiling to Misty.

Misty opened her mouth as if to say something but Link wrapped an arm around her shoulders and spun her around, calling a quick thanks. She looked up at him wondering what had gotten into him, but when she noticed that his jaw was somewhat clenched, eyes straight ahead with his arm firmly around her, she thought it was best to let it go and simply smiled and turned to look forward again as they entered the shop.

"King Zora requests that you make her an outfit with the special Zora material." Link said rather curtly.

"It shall be done, please come this way." The Zora said bowing, and lead Misty to a room off to the side.

"Someone's jealous that King Zora noticed Misty had a nice figure." Navi said flying out from under his hat.

"Navi, stuff in." Link said snatching off his green hat and picking up the blue one, opening it up and pointing for her to get in it.

About four hours later Link was really starting to get impatient and was silently cursing that, for the Zora's sake, the outfit had better look darn good. As if they had heard his thoughts, the Zora stepped back into the room and held his arms out wide.

"Presenting Mistress Misty." He said and then bowed as Misty stepped into view.

She was dressed in a pair of skin tight pants that hung low on her hips and ended at the knees, her shoes an odd sight, flat and were flipper's that Link assumed was for speed in the water. Her top was cut up right to under her breast, thin straps going over her shoulders to the back, and as always, she had fingerless gloves that ran up to her mid upper arm.

"All in blue to match you." She said stepping forward.

"So true." Link laughed, having already changed into his blue tunic. "Time to go to that Water Temple." Moving out of the shop they moved along the rock path and out behind the waterfall. Link pulled out the Ocarina and played the serenade of water as Misty wrapped her arms around him, and the three of them were whisked away in a blur of blue sparkles.

They appeared on the island across from the entrance of Lake Hylia and carefully moved down the side of it, falling into the bit of water that was left of the lake. Link slipped on the iron boots so that he sunk down to the bottom, Misty using the flippers of her shoes to stay with him. Taking out his hook shot he pointed it up to the very top of the gate they found at the bottom where a little key seemed to be placed. Hitting it with the hook shot, it slide out of its place and moved upwards, at the same time the gate slowly began to open. Nodding to Misty they made their way inside and up. Pulling themselves out of the water and onto stone, they moved into the temple.

In the center there was a large structure with three different levels, water coming right up to the first level.

"I can hear someone." Misty said tilting her head to the side. "This way Link." She said and dove into the water, swimming down to the bottom and towards an opening to the right.

Link simply shrugged equipped his iron boots again and followed down. Walking to the corridor they moved through it, turning a couple corners, Misty holding onto his arm to keep herself from floating up. As they turned one last corner Link stopped and gasped. There, standing all grown up was Princess Ruto of the Zora's.

"Oh….you…If I'm right…Link!?" Ruto said smiling at him. "You're Link, aren't you?" At his nod she continued on. "It's me, your fiancée, Ruto! Princess of the Zora's! I never forgot the vows we made to each other seven years ago! You're a terrible man to have kept me waiting for these seven long years…But now is not the time to talk about love…I'm sure you've already seen it! Zora's Domain—totally frozen! A young man named Shiek saved me from under the ice…But my father and the other Zora's have not…yet…. I want to save them all! I want to save Zora's domain! You! You have to help me! This is a request from me, the woman who is going to be your wife! Link, you have to help me destroy the evil monster in the temple ok?! Inside the Water Temple, there are three places where you can change the water level. I'll lead the way, follow me, quickly!!" And with that Ruto swam up through an opening in the ceiling, Link following after her.

Misty on the other hand had let go of his arm when the word 'fiancée' had been spoken. She stayed there, one hand up against the ceiling to steady herself and keep from floating up. She felt as if she had just been stabbed in the heart, Link was engaged! Even worse, it was to a fish lady! She was still floating there dumbfounded when Link was there in front of her again, pulling her upwards with him.

As soon as they broke the surface of the water she pulled away from him and climbed out of the water, moving as far away from him as she could.

"Misty before you say anything I'm not actually engaged to her." Link said coming up behind her.

"Well it sure sounded like you were to me." She said bitterly.

"It was seven years ago. She had a spiritual stone I needed but she said it was like the Zora's engagement ring. I was young and I just wanted that stone." Link said moving a hand to her shoulder.

"What ever, lets just keep moving." Misty said pulling away from him and moving through the only door that was present.

"I'm going to prove to you that she doesn't mean anything to me like that, no matter what it takes." Link said softly before following her.

Misty was still mad at him as they moved through the temple, only speaking little hints here and there and that was it. They had gone through a couple rooms and had collected the long shot, and had passed through a room with dragon heads statues they had to hook onto after raising them by defeating three Stalfos. Now they were in a room that seemed more like a dream to Misty. The floor was like a reflective mirror with water spread over it, the walls and ceiling lost in mist, the only other object was a small island ahead with a dead tree on it besides the door they had just come through and another door on the opposite end.

Without waiting for him Misty moved through the bit of water all the way to the other side of the room to the door, where she reached it and sighed.

"Damn, there are bars blocking it." She said before turning around moving back towards the island where she saw a dark figure.

"Link?" She asked softly, seeing that the dark figure looked exactly like him, and not being able to see that he was actually still standing at the other door because the tree was blocking her view. The dark figure turned around with his sword drawn, the only part of his face that she could see was his red eyes. Misty let out a scream as he came at her with his sword swinging with precise aim.

Link, hearing Misty scream, rushed towards the island and around the tree just in time to see her fall backwards, avoiding being sliced in half by what looked like a mirror image of himself. Coming up behind it, Link struck it in the back with his own sword. It disappeared and Link bent down to pull Misty to her feet.

"Link watch out!" She cried, and Link on instinct swung his sword around, but the mirror Link jumped up on his sword, freezing him in place.

Breaking free from the mirror, Link took up the sword fight anew. Striking out at the mirror image, steel clashed against steel as their swords met; every move the true Link made the mirror seemed to copy. Misty gazed at the two fighters, knowing that the fight wasn't getting anywhere fast. Standing up she grabbed her bow from her back and knocked an arrow. She waited until Link noticed what she was doing and with a small nod, she fired her arrow. Mirror Link was forced to jump to the side to avoid being hit by the arrow, and the real Link followed after dealing a blow. Again the two worked together and were soon able to defeat the mirror image of Link. As soon as it fell through the floor the whole room began to change. The mist started to clear, the island and tree disappeared and the floor became less reflective. By the time it was all done the room was rather small compared to what they had first thought, with blue walls ceiling and floor.

Link put his sword away and turned to face Misty thinking that she had forgiven him, but she simply slung her bow over her shoulder, turned her back on him, and moved through the door they had just opened by defeating the mirror Link. Link's shoulders slumped as he sighed following after her, wishing Ruto had forgotten all about him, but obviously she had lived a very boring life for the past seven years.

The chains to the boss room fell to both side as Link brushed them away and opening the door with Misty brushing past him. They had gone through the whole dungeon, were now at the boss, and Link still didn't know what he could do to convince her of something he wasn't even a hundred percent sure of.

As they walked into the boss room the door slammed shut behind them and Misty gazed around the room. It was square in shape, large enough for a battle, spikes lined the walls except in the corners, and the room was mostly filled by a large square pool found in the center with four square blocks in it.

"Be careful you guys, that's' not normal water over there." Navi cautioned.

The two moved deeper into the room, Link jumping to one platform, Misty another. Misty watched as Link bent over a little to look at the water, but instead of doing the same, she was silently cursing herself. She had reacted harshly when she had heard Ruto call Link her fiancée, but now only pride was keeping her from speaking to him.

She was so wrapped up in her thoughts that she didn't even notice the long tendril of water wrapping around her until it was too late. She moved to take a step forward but the tendril clamped tight around her, locking her arms to her body and immobilizing her legs. At first she was too stunned to do anything, but as it lifted her off the platform she gave a quick cry of protest, which caused Link to turn around.

He could almost actually feel the blood drain from his face when he saw Misty held in the air by some giant tendril coming from the water. He drew his sword and moved to jump to her, but as it always seemed to happen, her voice stopped him.

"Link this is the boss! Don't let the tendrils touch you stand in the corner and when they lash out to you a reddish pink globe will follow. That's what controls this thing, get it out of the water and destroy it!" She was just able to call out those orders before she was pulled down into the water.

"NO!" Link yelled and ran for the place she had vanished but another tendril came up and swung for him.

Dodging it by rolling to the side, Link got up and jumped from the platform to the main floor of the room, moving himself to a corner just as Misty had instructed him to do. Standing there the only thing that he could think of was Misty being pulled under.

"Here it comes again Link!" Navi warned at the sound of water moving.

Link gave his head a single nod as he pulled out the long shot. Misty had said to get the globe out of the water, what better way was there then to use the long shot?

A long tendril of water came shooting out at him but fell short since he was so far back in the corner. When the globe came out Link spotted it right away and shot it with the long shot. The globe was pulled from the tendril of water and when it reached him, Link turned himself around so that he had it pinned in the corner. Drawing out his sword he began slashing at it with a furry Navi had never seen in him before. The globe tried to bounce past the warrior but Link never let up his attack. Within moments it was all over, the globe let out a monstrous cry and moved to the center of the room where it exploded. The water itself began to rise up in the center of the ceiling, where it seeped through the cracks. There was one last drop that hung from the ceiling and as it fell and hit the floor, a portal appeared.

Link however ignored most of it, having jumped down into the pool as soon as most of the water had drained. Moving around the platforms he searched desperately for Misty. Coming around the corner near the portal, he spotted her lying on her side with her back to him.

"Misty!?" He called to her as he moved down by her side.

Gently he rolled her onto her back, pulling her up to him and holding her close. Misty let out a soft groan and slowly opened her eyes to Link's smiling face.

"Shouldn't we be looking for Princess Ruto now?" She asked weakly, though her voice grew slightly stronger with each word.

"We'll get to that, what matters most to me right now is that you're ok." Link said helping her to her feet though keeping her close.

"Really?" Misty asked looking up at him, cheeks starting to blush faintly.

"Misty, you've come to mean a lot to me." Link answered, and then lowered his head and lifted Misty's chine so that her lips met his.

Misty was grateful that Link had his arms around her because she was sure she would have collapsed when he kissed her if it wasn't for him holding her so closely. She stayed like that for a few moments, her own arm wrapped around his neck, before an irritated fairy reminded them of something.  
"Um guys, we have a sage waiting for us."

Link pulled away from Misty sheepishly, having completely forgotten about what they were supposed to be doing.

"Right, I knew that." Link said smiling down at Misty. Taking her hand Link lead her to the portal, the blue crystal forming around them and bringing them to the Chamber of the Sages.

When their feet touched down on the middle dais Misty slipped her hand from Links and took a step back. When he turned to look and see what was wrong, she gave him a small wink to show everything was alright. A blue light shone from in front of him and Link turned around to look back at the dais of the Water Sage to see Ruto appear.

"Link." Ruto said smiling to him. "I would have expected no less from the man I chose to be my husband. Zora's Domain and its people will eventually return to their original state. As a reward…I grant my eternal love to you."

At this Link took a very small step back and Misty had to use all she had not to shoot an arrow at the Zora Princess.

"Well that's what I want to say, but I don't think I can offer that now. I have to guard the Water Temple as the Sage of Water. And you….you're searching for the Princess, Zelda? Hah! You can't hide anything from me! Princess Zelda…she's alive. I can sense it…so don't be discouraged. I can tell that nothing will stop you in your quest for justice and peace….You must take this medallion…take it respectfully!"

With that a blue medallion with the water symbol on it came down in front of Link and Misty before turning into a blue mist and sinking into them, giving them both more strength. As the chamber faded around them Ruto's last words echoed.

"If you see Shiek, please give him my thanks ok?"

Outside Shiek stood and watched as the waters of Lake Hylia rose.

"As the water rises, the evil is vanishing from the lake…Link, you did it!" He said softly and turned around when he heard Link and Misty arrived from the Chamber of the Sages.

"Did Ruto want to thank me?" Shiek asked and continued after Link nodded his head. "I see…We have to return peace to Hyrule for her sake, too, don't we? Look at that Link…Together you and Princess Ruto destroyed the evil monster! Once again, the lake is filled with pure water. All is as it was here."

At Shiek's words Link moved out to the edge of the island they were on, looking out across Lake Hylia. Looking over to Misty, Shiek handed her a small piece of clear red stone. Misty looked at it and gave a small nod of her head in thanks, knowing what it was for. Backing up Shiek vanished from sight, and when Link turned around he asked where he went.

"Oh you know how Shiek is; he can never stay for long." Misty said smiling. "Now about that fishing trip, last one to the building has to cook supper!" She said and dove into the water.

"Hey no fair! You still have those flippers on!" Link called after her before diving into the water, desperately trying to gain ground since he hated cooking.


	7. Chapter 7

_**A/ N:**__ Ok guys, whoever is actually reading this chapter, thanks for being so loyal even though I'm not the best at updating. This chapter is just an filler because I can't find my binder which has the actual next chapter in, I know it's in some box around the house, see I'm leaving for University on Sept 1__st__ so everything is packed away. Anyway this chapter is going to be short but hopefully amusing enough to keep you all interested and I promise I'll have the next chapter up soon, I've got 7 hours to work on it on Saturday alone so it will be up soon. Oh and just to add in here, about the 'mistakes' in the last one, they werent actually mistakes. One: Link wouldnt know what a nuclous would be, and two: Dungeons are based on master quest version of the game, you get the longshot before you fight mirror Link._

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The corner of Tiffany's eye gave a small twitch as she watched the dark portal that had sucked her friend away from her slowly close. Michael's arms were still wrapped tightly around her, though she could tell by the stillness of his chest that he was just as stunned as she was that Misty had just vanished before their very eyes. Ever so slowly he let her go, and Tiffany slowly slide down to the ground and crawled to where her friend had just been standing.

"I don't believe this, she's gone, and how could he have found her all the way in this time frame, this dimension even? It just doesn't make any sense." She said softly as Michael looked around them to make sure that no one else had seen the odd spectacle.

"I don't know, but I mean Misty always said how dangerous he was, every time she spoke about him it was always in awe, who knows, maybe somehow he knows everything that's going on here also." Michael started, and then paused a moment before continuing. "You know what would be really funny, if this Ganon guy turned out to be this right hotty and that when Misty gets there she falls head over heels in love with him so that she goes over to the dark side and works with him to take over Hyrule and stays there forever."

"Don't even say that!!!" Tiffany yelled at him as she jumped to her feet and punched him in the chest. "Ganon is evil, she would never go to his side, and you heard her speak of him before, he's not the most charming man there is over there. Personally I believe that if she were to fall in love with anyone it should be a valiant hero who saves her from his clutches as soon as she gets there and then they work side by side, fighting evil in search of a way to get her home again."

"Heh yeah, well what ever, well just have to wait until she gets back and then we can ask her how everything went." Michael replied as he rubbed gently at his chest before grabbing an oreo and sitting back down at the table, stretching his legs out wide in front of him and resting his free hand on his stomach.  
Tiffany just stared at him in disbelief, the corner of her eye twitching a couple of times again before she threw her hands up into the air and started her yelling once more.

"Do you mean to tell me that you're just going to sit here eating that damn cookie and not do a single thing to get her back! Lunch is going to be over in like forty five minutes, how on earth are we going to explain her absence!? The school will call home to check up and make sure she is actually there if we tell them that she went home sick, and she didn't sign out or even tell a teacher or the main office that she had an appointment or something. She can get into big trouble over this and no one is going to believe us if we tell the truth about why she isn't here!!!"

Michael just started at her as she waved her arms in the air, and still kept quiet when she was done her small rant and began pacing back and forth. Looking down at his watch he had to admit that she was right, lunch was going to be over with the hour and they had no idea how Misty was going to be able to make it back in time. He was about to make a reply that they could say that she was kidnapped while they were out here eating lunch when this girl waltzed up to them. She had waist length black hair that was pulled up into a perfect ponytail, her clothing was in the school colours being the fact that she was wearing a cheerleading uniform, and her nose was held up high in the air, a look of disgust on her face as she gazed at the two of them.

"Where's Misty?" She asked, folding her arms across her chest, tapping her foot on the ground as if she couldn't wait to get away from the two of them. "I need her now, I'm calling an extra practice after school and it wouldn't be good if the co-captain didn't even know about it, besides I need her to talk to the beginners, I cant waste my precious time on those hopeless cases, so where is she?"

"An evil sorcerer opened a black portal right under her feet and sucked her back to his dimension because she knew what he was up to and he doesn't want her bothering with his plans to take complete control of the country he's in and then slowly take over the world." Michael said truthfully, completely relaxed, Tiffany on the other hand stopped her pacing and gazed back at him with wide eyes, mouth hanging open and the twitch back in her eye.

"Oh for peets sake, if you don't know where she is then you should have just said so! I don't know why she hangs out with you two losers anyway, thanks for nothing." The black haired girl said as she whirled around and stormed off to go on a pointless search for her co-captain.

"Man, I really don't like her she gives cheerleaders a bad name." Michael said as he reached for his last cookie.

"I can't believe you just told her the truth!" Tiffany shouted at him, though lowered her voice when an elderly couple that were walking down the street not far from them turned to look at what all the commotion was about. "Why would you say something like that?"

"Well really Tiff, I mean it's such an unbelievable story, of course she wasn't going to believe me, and besides, as much as I don't like her I don't like lying to girls."

"I guess you're right." Tiffany finally admitted, moving to sit down next to him and resting her elbows on her knees so she could ay her face in her upturned hands. "But what are we going to do? What if something happens to her?" She wailed.

"Hey don't worry about it. I'm sure that there is a hero with her right now looking out for her, he wont let anything bad happen to her." Michael said as he wrapped one arm around her shoulders. "And besides, if something does happen to her, I'm going to go over to that place myself and kick that hero's ass." He added in with a menacing tone, raising his eyes to look at the place where the portal had been.

_In a whole different world, in the land of Hyrule, arm straining through the waters of Lake Hylia, trying to catch up with Misty, Link suddenly stopped in the water, looking around and shivering. _

_"What's wrong Link?" Navi asked, worried about the sudden stop since she knew that Link hated cooking and wouldn't want to loose this race. _

_"I just got a really bad feeling, I don't know how to explain it, but it was as if someone was staring at me and wished me dead so badly that I just shivered with the fear of it." He replied still looking around._

_"Ah Link, it was probably just Ganondorf wishing bad things on you, you know you're really messing up his plans right now, don't worry about it, and besides, Misty is getting way ahead of you."_

_"You're right." Link answered, and went back to the race, pumping his arms and legs even more to try and close some ground between them, though he couldn't shake the feeling that it was someone else that wanted him to know to watch his back. _


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Ok lets not all die from shock that I finally posted, its not my best one, but I didnt have a lot of ideas for this one and it was kinda boaring to write. I got it up though as soon as I could with everything going on here at school, but at least I got it back up before I went home for thanksgiving this weekend. Anyway if anyone has something they want to say about the story, or want to read something in here but dont want everyone else to see, I have a personal email adress in my profile that everyone can get me at, I check it daily so leave me one:)**

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Misty was laughing her head off by the time she pulled herself out of the water and onto the small island where the fishing building was located. Turning around she was just in time to catch Link as he stumbled up after her. 

"That." He said as he rolled off of her after bringing her down to the ground with him, "Was no fair, you have flippers on!"

"Link you're so much stronger then I am, the flippers shouldn't have changed anything." Misty answered as she helped pull him to his feet.

"Fine, but if you get sick from my cooking don't blame me." He fired back as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her towards the door. Opening it for her, the two walked into the fishing area, and a smile formed on Misty's lips.

The place consisted of a small pond towards the south end surrounded by high cliffs. To the very right of the door was a long desk, holding a small aquarium with a single small fish in it. Behind the counter hanging on the wall were different sized fishing poles and a guy with a white hat. Link pulled Misty towards the guy with Navi following behind, but just as they reached the counter, the guys' eyes grew wide.

"Hey! You're that fairy kid! Man it's been seven years since you've been here, what happened to you?"

"I've been away, travelling and the like" Link answered, not liking to have to lie to the guy, but he couldn't very well tell him the truth.

"Ah that's fun. So you and your lady here want to go fishing today?" He asked, and at Link's nod he turned around and grabbed two fishing poles.

"Now remember, no sinking lures!" He said before handing the poles over.

Link simply waved him off as he pushed over some rupees to pay for their time then both he and Misty made their way to the waters edge. Link moved off to the right, heading towards some lily pads before casting his line out into the water. Misty on the other hand moved to the left, walking out into the water some before sending her hook out to the side of a sunken log.

"You expect to catch much over there?" Link asked laughing as his line was pulled and he began pulling in his first fish.

"Patience will pay off." Misty replied, leaving her line go limp.

The two stayed as they were for an hour, Link pulling in small fish after small fish, Misty staying in the same place with nothing, making idle chit chat before Link started up with the more serious conversation he had had on his mind since he had first met her.

"Misty….where do you come from?"

Looking up Misty caught his eye for a moment before lowering her gaze. "A large town, larger then what you have around here, but the people are just as nice." She answered trying to avoid telling him the truth and lying all at the same time.

"Yeah I understand that, but where is this town? I know there are plenty of places outside of Hyrule, but you fell from a portal in the sky, from a dark portal that looked oddly like the one Ganondorf would have used, why?"

Misty felt a knot of panic in her stomach at all his questions. She really wanted to trust him enough to tell him everything, but there was something holding her back that she just couldn't explain. She opened her mouth with the worst explanation she could come up with on such short notice, when her line suddenly pulled tight. Snapping her mouth shut she took a couple of steps back when the line jerked again, pulling her forwards with it.

"Argh! Link help! I think I got a big one!"

Link looked up to see Misty being pulled ever so slowly into the water. Taking his line out of the pond he ran to her side, dropping his rode on the ground before splashing into the water and wrapping his arms around her to grab the reel. Having forgotten about the questions he had wanted answered, the two of them laughed and struggled to get the fish in. A couple of times they got close to landing it, but then it jumped out of the water and pulled further away from them.

"That thing is huge!" Link cried as the fish drew close to them.

He gave a great haul on the rode, lifting it above his head as Misty bent down and grabbed the line, pulling it at the same time as Link and pulled the fish out of the water. Misty looked at the fish with her mouth wide open, the thing was as long as her torso was! Looking at each other, Link carried the fish back to the counter as Misty grabbed the fishing poles. Link set the fish down in front of the owner, who started at it with wide eyes.

"Wow! This thing is huge! Lets see…." He said as he picked up a measuring device to see how big it was. "It's twenty two inches long! This is a new record, way to go guys!" He said as he pulled the fish that had been in the aquarium out and put the new fish in. Taking the sign down that claimed the fish had been twelve inches long caught by Link himself, and made up a new one that gave the size of the new fish and the names of Link and Misty on it.

"So you guys going back to fishing?" He asked looking back at them.

"No we're done for today." Link said taking the rod's from Misty and handed them over to him.

"Alright, don't be a stranger ya hear!"

Link and Misty thanked him for the fishing time before stepping out the door. Walking to the edge of the small island, they dove back into the water and swam the short distance back to the main land. Once on shore, Link called Epona and as soon as she arrived, Link jumped up on her back and pulled Misty up behind him. Turning her around, they galloped away from Lake Hylia, once again moving towards Kokiri Forest.

Misty wrapped her arms around Links waist, gently leaning her head against his back. Closing her eyes she let out a soft sigh, trying to imagine what state her friends would be in at the moment.

_'Tiffany would be in full panic mode because she wouldn't be able to explain where I am to anyone, not to mention she would be worried about me. Micheal would be worried also, but he would have on a stronger front, cool and laid back, just for Tiffany's sake.' _She thought to herself, leaving her body relax, drained from the dungeon. The smooth rocking of Epona's gallop mixed with the comfort of having Link's muscled back against her soon put her into a light doze.

It seemed as if she had only just closed her eyes when she felt a small pat against her hands. Lifting her head up her eyes met Link's smiling face.

"Wake up sleepy head, we're here."

Mumbling a bit Misty released Link so that he could slip off the horse and turn around and help her down. Even with her feet firmly planted on the ground he kept an arm around her waist, and she unconsciously leaned into him some.

Together they made their way back into Kokiri Forest where they were greeted warmly by the few Kokiri who were still out and about. They made their way down the path and up the ladder, walking into Link's house side by side.

"I don't have a whole lot to cook with here since I didn't think we would be coming back much. I only bought a couple of things." Link said as he moved to the cupboards and Misty took a seat at the small table in the center of the room.

Link moved around and collected up some bowels, some made of wood, others made of pottery, along with some vegetables, spices, and some knives. Setting them on the table he looked at everything for a moment before he picked up a knife, selected a potato, and went to skin it.

"OW!" He cried, dropping everything as he clutched at his lightly bleeding finger.

Misty jumped up from her chair and moved around to him, grabbing a cloth on the way. Ripping the cloth into strands she carefully took his hand into hers and, after washing the blood from it, gently wrapped it up while speaking.

"You know what Link, perhaps it would be better if I did the cooking, even though I was the one who won the race. Why don't you run out and get us some beef and I'll make a nice stew?" She asked as she moved to wash her own hands.

"Yeah I think you're right." Link said holding up his abused finger and stared at it with an un-amused look. Shaking his head some he moved off to the side to slip off all his weapons before he grabbed his wallet, slide back over to Misty to give her a light kiss on the head, and then moved out the door.

Misty watched him go with a warm feeling in her heart. Giving herself a shake, she removed the bloody knife and the potato from the counter before she set to work. Like an expert she chopped up the potatoes and a turnip into small squares, sliced up some carrots, and cut an onion into small shavings. Finding the deepest pot she could, she filled it with water before adding the veggies. Setting a fire in the cooking area, she set the pot on the flames, stirring it with a wooden spoon and adding in roots and spices.

Link walked in a couple moments after, breathing in deep as he moved to hand her a nice sized portion of beef.

"That smells so good, what are you adding?"

"Summer savoury, at least it smells and tastes like it." Misty answered, taking the meat and moving back to the table where she began cutting it into small chunks. Adding the meat in, she gave the pot a couple more stirs before setting the spoon aside.

"There, now its still going to be awhile before its done but at least I know we're going to eat something that wont kill us." She said, giving Link a teasing smile.

"I may not be the best cook, but I doubt I would end up killing us with my food. Sicken maybe, but not kill." He countered, grabbing her around the waist and pulling her down to sit next to him on the bed.

"Well I don't want to get sick either." Misty added in as she snuggled up to him.

"You're right, we still have two more dungeons to do and then go against Ganondorf himself. Shiek basically told us where the temples are. One in a deep forest, one on a high mountain, one under a vast lake….what was the next one again?" Link asked looking around for Navi.

"One within the house of the dead." Misty supplied the answer.

"How did you know that?"

"I was….uh there one time when you and Navi were talking about it." Misty answered quickly, not remembering if she had actually been there or if Shiek had told her during one of their meetings.

"Oh, right." Link said completely accepting her answer. "Well I have no idea where that could be. Kakariko has the graveyard which connects to the dead part but I've been through the whole place when I was a kid and I didn't find anything that could lead to an actual temple. Dampé's place was the biggest structure that I found."

"We didn't get a good look at the area since we were chasing after him though; maybe we missed an opening that could lead to the temple."

"Maybe, there were a lot of different paths that broke off from the one we took; it is possible one of them leads to the temple. We should go there tomorrow and check it out."

"Link!" Navi chirped, breaking into the conversation as she came through the window next to the bed. "You two have been working so hard these past few weeks, I think its about time you took a couple days rest. These two temples will be much more difficult so we all need to be well rested."

"You're probably right Navi. We should take a few days to relax." Link agreed smiling down at Misty.

Navi rolled her eyes and gave a small exasperated sigh, which caused Link to look up with a mischievous smile.

"Of course, out resting could also be an excuse so that you can spend time with a certain fairy."

What happened next Misty would always remember. Navi's bluish white light turned completely white, followed by a scarlet shade Misty had never seen before. The colour change was followed by a quick get away by the fairy through the front door.

"What just happened?" Misty asked worriedly.

"Did you know that there are male fairies here in the forest?" Link asked settling back on the bed.

"No I didn't." She answered laughing.

"Hey something smells really good!" Link said sitting up again.

"That would be our stew." Misty replied as she got up and walked to the boiling pot.

Link moved himself to sit at the table as Misty took the pot off the fire and placed it in the center of the table. She grabbed two bowels and spooned out servings before she poured a glass of water for both of them. Holding up her glass she smiled at Link before commenting.

"To a small vacation."

"To a small vacation." He answered, clinking his glass against hers before digging into his soup, and finishing off the whole pot before they went to sleep.

Misty gave a soft sigh as she leaned her head back against the house, setting the book she had been reading down on her lap. The last rays of the dying day gleamed over the top of the old Deku Tree, the sounds of the forest quieting down to the chirps of night. It had been about a week since hey had gone through the water temple, and in that time Misty realized how tired she had become. In the past couple of days though all they had done was rest, and she felt that once again she was ready to go and complete the dungeons, defeat Ganondorf and….

"Go home." She said softly as the realization that she would be leaving Link soon sunk in.

When they had first met they hadn't gotten along very well, in fact, she had been very determined to see him get lost so she could be rid of him. Now though, after everything they had been through, she had become very attached to him, but soon she would be leaving, and he didn't even realize how final their goodbye would be.

She was so wrapped up in her thoughts that she didn't even notice Link walk down the path to his house, though he certainly noticed her. Pausing halfway down the path, he crossed his arms over his chest as he studied her. It was late in the evening so she was already dressed in her night clothing which was a simple pair of baggy light blue pants and a matching strapless shirt that tied around her neck. The night air pulled her hair back from her face and the last ray of day showed the troubled expression on her face before it died away to darkness.

Frowning, Link made his way down the rest of the path and pulled himself up the ladder. Once on the balcony he made his way to the left side railing where she was sitting. Misty noticed him then, and swung her feet over the railing and onto the floor, though she remained seated. Link placed his hands on either side of her on the railing and kissed her on top of the head before speaking.

"What's on your mind?"

Misty looked up at his concerned face and she felt her heart give a shiver, not wanting to tell him about leaving in fear that he would take it the wrong way, so she quickly came up with another story.

"I'm just worried that we're not going to be able to find the next temple. If we don't find it then we can't awaken the sage and without their help we can't defeat Ganondorf which means we can't save Hyrule and no one will be able to live in peace!"

"Whoa whoa, slow down and breath." Link laughed backing up some with his hands in the air. "We'll worry about that tomorrow when we go to the graveyard, but for now lets' go to bed, it's late."

"Alright." Misty agreed as she took Links offered hand and followed him into the house.

She moved to put the book away as Link pulled off his boots and shirt, leaving the shorts he had been wearing on and crawled into bed. Misty crawled in next to him and snuggled up, feeling even worse then she had before from lying to him. Closing her eyes as Link kissed her on the head again, she tried to get some sleep, but her dreams were troubling.

A deep fog seemed to surround her on all sides, swirling around her body. Out in the unknown though a dark shadow moved quickly, one moment a large object, the next flat as can be moving along the floor. Misty kept her eyes on the shadow, but when she heard a noise behind her she turned around. Seeing nothing she turned back to where she had last seen the shadow, but all she saw was a giant red eye staring back at her. Suppressing a scream she stumbled back, but when she looked up again it was gone.

"Misty."

Whirling around at the voice, Misty let out a sigh of relief when she recognized the person standing behind her.

"Lost woods." Was all she said before vanishing.

The fog vanished from around Misty and then she was staring up at the ceiling of Link's house. Looking over at him to make sure he was still fast asleep, Misty slipped out from his arms and quietly made her way towards the curtain that served as a door. Without even bothering to put shoes on she slipped out onto the balcony, slipped down the ladder and made her way up the small incline, across the path and climbed up towards the lost woods.

As soon as she stepped into the woods she could faintly hear the sound of someone playing a harp. Closing her eyes for a moment she took a soothing breath. When she opened them again she took a step forward and allowed her instincts to lead her.

She had no idea where she was going, the forest was dark and it wasn't the same path Link and she had taken to get to the temple. She trusted herself though, and the sounds of the harp were growing louder. Eventually she walked into a closed area that was bare except for tall grass running around the bottom of the cliff and the lone figure standing in the center of the opening.

"You sent for me?" Misty asked walking closer as the harp music faded.

"There's an evil that was sealed at the bottom of the well in Kakariko village that's breaking loose." Shiek said. "I'm sure that it's going to head to the shadow temple that's deep beneath the graveyard, the opening is carved into the cliff at the back. I'm afraid it's going to escape soon, I hope you and Link are ready for it when it does."

"Well thanks for letting me know where the temple is, and Link and I are heading for the village tomorrow. I'll check out the seal in the well then."

"Thank you Misty." Shiek said walking up to her and holding out a green crystal. "This is another spell. This one you will cast at the opening of any temple, if you get into great trouble, cast it again and you'll return to where you cast it last."

"Thanks." Misty said taking the crystal.

The two hugged briefly before Misty turned away, each making their way towards their own destination. It didn't take Misty long before she took a wrong path and was brought back to the main forest. As she made her way back to Link's house the sky began to lighten and she gave a soft sigh, knowing she would be tired for the rest of the day. Climbing into bed, she slipped back into Link's arms and fell almost instantly asleep.

It seemed like only a few seconds later though when Link woke her up again. While he was well rested and ready to go, she felt dead tired and grumpy. All the same though she pulled herself out of bed, made breakfast, washed up, got dressed and pulled herself up onto the back of Epona, all within an hour.

"You're awfully quiet this morning." Link commented as Epona walked away from the forest.

"Ya I'm just trying to figure out exactly where the next temple could be." Misty answered, and gave a smile when he turned his head around to look at her.

Misty pulled her eyes away from his and looked to the east, her smile vanishing to a look of fear.

"Oh my God." She said softly.

"What's wrong?" Link asked looking around for the source of her distress, his eyes falling onto the smoke to the east.

"Link, Kakariko village is burning."


	9. Chapter 9

**IMPORTANT:** Read my Author's note at the end of the story!

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Misty and Link ran as fast as they could towards the main part of Kakariko Village. The heat coming from the roofs of the burning houses was enough to make them sweat. Straight down the way, standing in front of the well was Shiek, so that was exactly where they ran to first. As they neared the well Misty fell back slightly, remembering what Shiek had told her about the evil inside the well. Link on the other hand ran right up behind Shiek.

"Get back Link!" Shiek said without even turning around.

The wooden arch that was over the well was suddenly torn off and thrown towards Misty, barley missing her. Rain began to fall as Link turned his head to check up on her, but his attention was drawn forward again at a gasp from Shiek. Shiek had been picked up by an unseen force and was then tossed around for a moment before he too was thrown towards Misty. As soon as he hit the ground Misty was by his side, Link following on foot close behind.

None noticed the shadow that seeped from the well, snaking up the house next to the well and then over the ground before coming back down to the lower ground level they were on, only as it drew near did Link notice it. Standing he drew his sword out to hold behind him as he crouched behind his shield as he waited to face what ever it was.

"Wait Link!" Came Shiek's desperate cry, and then something grabbed Link, and soon all he saw was blackness.

Link came too a couple moments later, slowly opening his eyes to see Misty's worried face. Sitting up gently, he shook his head lightly before turning to look at Shiek.

"Looks like you're coming around….Link….A terrible thing has happened! The evil Shadow Spirit has been released! Impa, the leader of Kakariko Village, had sealed the evil Shadow Spirit in the bottom of the well. But the force of the evil spirit got so strong, the seal of the well was broken, and it escaped into the world! I believe Impa has gone to the Shadow Temple to seal it again, but…she will be in danger without any help! Link! Impa is one of the sages, destroy the evil Shadow Spirit and save Impa! There is an entrance to the Shadow Temple beneath the graveyard behind this village. The only thing I can do for you is teach you the melody that will lead you to the Shadow Temple. This is the melody that will draw you into the infinite darkness that absorbs even time….listen to this, the Nocturne of Shadow!!"

As with all the other songs, Link and Shiek began to play together once Link learned the melody, but unlike the other songs, Misty didn't like this one at all. It was evil, bone chilling to listen to, and she prayed she wouldn't have to hear it too often.

"Let me take care of the village!" Shiek continued. "I'm counting on you Link!" With that Shiek again vanished from sight.

The rain began to fall harder, and slowly it seemed as if the fires were beginning to die down. Link turned around to look at Misty, who silently walked towards him, placing her hand on his shoulder. Link gave a small nod of his head, pulled out his ocarina and played the Nocturne of Shadow. They appeared on the rise above the graveyard and without even saying anything Link turned around and walked down the stone steps that were cut into the cliff directly behind them.

Misty paused a moment to look back out across Kakariko Village, pulling a small lens from the pouch she had tied to her belt. While Link had been knocked out Shiek had slipped it to her, calling it the Lens of Truth. According to him there were things hidden in the dungeon by shadow, and the lens would show them the truth of the passage. Placing the Lens of Truth back in her pouch, she turned around and followed Link down the steps.

The room they had entered into was pretty much bare except for a small dais in the center, torches around the dais, ruin markings all around the dais, and a large stone archway at the back of the room with a stone door blocking its path with the symbol of the Sheikha.

"I guess this is a job for me." Misty said quietly as she moved to stand on the dais.

Link moved back and up a couple stairs, taking a seat on one as he watched Misty. Moving her hand to her side as she had done in the Fire Temple, Misty took a step back, brought her arm around and hit the floor with her hand. A circle of fire surrounded her and then spread outward, lighting the torches, but vanishing before it reached Link.

Once the torches were all lit the stone door slowly began to rise, opening the way to the Shadow Temple. Misty stepped down from the dais and together she and Link began to walk down the hall they had just uncovered. Before they got too far though Misty stopped and allowed Link to go forward. Placing her hand to her side again, she brought both arms forward in a circular motion before raising them above her head. A great wind picked up and blew around her as a green light appeared above her head and then shot back towards the entrance of the temple. Misty looked back at the spell know as Farore's wind, and prayed that it did what Shiek had said that it would.

Running a bit to catch up with Link, who seemed oblivious to everything around him at the moment, Misty looked around the corner they had come to. A large gap in the floor blocked their path, but Link grabbed her around the waist and longshot their way over to the other side, having seen a place where the longshot would hook onto. At the end of the new hall way an odd stone face stared back at them and they cautiously approached it.

"It's not real; we can walk straight through it." Misty commented, the Lens of Truth showed her as much, the power giving a red tint to her vision as its magic worked over her.

"Are you sure?" Link asked.

Misty only replied with a small smile before she walked forward and vanished from sight, giving Link no choice but to follow after her. The room they stepped into was as bleak as the hallway had been, though a little more decorative. Lining the walls were more stone faces just like the one they had just passed through. On the far end of the room from them, an archway designed to look like a face lead to another room, though it as closed off by a gate, and another large void in the floor. In the center of the room was a large stone statue of a bird, and around it in a circle were more torches, the heads shaped like skulls.

Link and Misty moved towards the stone statue, Misty's vision tinting red again, and the skulls on top of the torches vanished, all except for one.

"Link, that one is different from the others." Misty said pointing to it.

"Hey maybe you should try moving the statue to point at it Link, it looks like a pointing statue!" Navi chirped in.

"What the hell is a pointing statue?" Link mumbled to himself as he moved to the statue.

Finding a place where it stuck out, Link pushed against it and was surprised when it did in fact move. He pushed it until the beak of the bird was facing the torch Misty was standing next to and stood up. When nothing happened he shook his head and stepped forward. Suddenly the top of the skulls caught fire and the gate under the arch began to slowly rise. Smiling, the two walked over to the edge of the void, and both smiles vanished.

"That's way too far to jump to, and I don't see anywhere to longshot onto, I don't know how we're going to get over there." Link sighed.

Misty looked around at the arch and noticed two torches next to the 'eyes'. Taking out her bow and arrows she knocked an arrow and pointed it at one of the torches. Link looked at her blankly as if she were stupid, that was until she narrowed her eyes slightly and a ring of fire burst out from around the head of the arrow, catching him off guard. She let loose the arrow and caught the first torch on fire and then turned to the other one, doing the same. Once both torches were lit, a white, almost transparent stone appeared at their feet, closing the distance between them and the plateau on the other side enough so they could jump across. Link took a step forward and jumped over the smaller distance and then waited for Misty. Once she was on the other side they made their way down deeper into the Shadow Temple, the heart of darkness.

"Do I even want to know how you can see so much that I can't?" Link asked Misty as they unlocked another door. The room they were in was almost circular in shape, had a higher ledge with another locked door, and according to Misty, random spikes along the floor every now and then.

"It's not that amazing; it's just this lens I found sometime ago." Misty lied as she pulled out the Lens of Truth to show him.

"Ah well that's not so bad then." Link admitted as she put it back in her pouch as they moved through the door they had just opened.

The new room was again circular in shape, though this one had a taller portion in the back with tall stairs leading up to it. Link moved towards the stairs as Misty hung back, knowing he would want to check it out first. When Link reached the top, he moved across it, turned around and jumped backwards to avoid being impaled by the sword of a stalfos that had just appeared.

Dancing around it he managed to score a hit before having to back off once more. The stalfos jumped at him, brining its sword down hard which gave Link the chance to roll around it and score another hit. The stalfos yelled out its furry and charged at Link, but again Link ducked and managed to stab it twice more.

"Link!" Misty's voice cried out from below.

Looking over the ledge, Link realized that another stalfos warrior had appeared, and though Misty managed to shot an arrow into it, she wasn't fairing too well. A shuffling brought Link back to his own fight, and he moved his head just in time to avoid loosing it, though the skeletons blade sliced a neat cut into his cheek. Going with the momentum of the spin, Link dropped down low and jabbed his sword right through the Stalfo's abdomen. The creature gave a soft groan and broke apart to the floor.

With one down, Link jumped down from the upper level to deal with the second one. As Link stepped between her and the foe, Misty backed up a couple steps, placing her bow back over her shoulder. She watched Link dodge, roll, and score hits against the warrior, but something was bothering her, something wasn't right. What she didn't notice was a dark portal opening behind her, until it was too late. A giant hand came out and grabbed her around her waist, starting to pull her backwards into the portal.

Link heard Misty scream and turned to see her fighting a loosing battle against the hand. He tried to get around to her but the stalfos blocked his path, keeping its shield up so he couldn't even strike it.

"Misty!" He cried out in frustration and fear.

"Link, look for the truth!" Misty called back as she dug into her pouch and threw the Lens of Truth across the floor before she was pulled back all the way into the portal.

"NO!" Link cried, and finally managed to slip around the enemy, stabbing it in the back to make it crumble to the ground, and dashed to the portal. It was too late though, it closed just as he reached it. Leaning against the wall he slammed his fists against the stone, and actually let out a soft sob.

"Link…." Navi said flying over to him, speaking in a soft voice. "We've lost her before, I'm sure she'll find her way back to us. Listen to her last words, look for the truth."

Link pushed away from the wall some, hands still in front of him on the stone for a moment before he slowly let his hands drop and turned around to look at the Lens of Truth. Walking over to it he picked it up, shoving it into one of his own pouches, and without another word, walked out of the room.

Link slowly stood up and put his sword away as the stalfos broke apart and vanished in a puff of green smoke. Straightening he watched as a platform appeared to the right of the eerie boat he was riding, floating across nothing but fog.

"Link! This ship is sinking! Abandon ship! Get onto a safe platform!" Navi suddenly cried out.

Link jumped onto the new platform and moved to the edge of it as the boat vanished behind him. To the far right of him was another door that was blocked with bars; across from him was yet another door that was open, a large bird statue stood to the left of it with a bunch of bomb flowers at its base, and to the right of the door was a platform, and higher up on the wall was a balcony. The only problem that he had was that there was a large void in between him and the other part of the room, so large that he wouldn't even be able to reach it with the hover boots he had found in the dungeon.

"I cant' get across, it ends here." Link muttered and dropped to the ground, knees up in front of him to prop up his arms as he ran his hands through his hair. "I'm sorry Misty, I've failed you." He said softly as he closed his eyes.

With the darkness of his closed eyes came despair, but then he felt a ghostly light pressure around his shoulders as if something were embracing him, and a soft whisper that lifted the despair from his mind.

_"See the truth Link; use your mind, see your path."_

When Link's eyes shot open the voice and pressure were gone, but he knew what had to be done. Standing up he turned to look at the door on the right, but oddly enough there was a small longshot tower on the other side of the void and one on the higher balcony that hadn't been there before. Walking over to stand across from the small tower on the ground, Link longshot his way over to it and then up to the balcony where he found a golden switch. Stepping on it, the switch raised the bars that had been on the door on the first platform he had been on.

"Now we're talking." He said jumping down. He made his way towards the giant statue where he set off the bomb flowers, making them explode around the base of the statue, destroying the stone. The stone statue slide forward before it fell, lodging into the other plateau, making a bridge from one side to the other. Stepping over it he made his way to the door, determined to find the boss key, cause some serious damage, free Impa, and demand she help him find Misty.

It didn't take Link long to find the boss key. He had made his way around some invisible walls and opened the first door he had come to. To his surprise the room had been empty except for the chest containing the boss key on the right hand side. Once he had the key in his possession though, he didn't even question why it had been so easy or what were behind the other two doors in the main room.

He ran back to where he had jumped off the ship, across the bridge, and through the only other door. He entered into a strange room, at first it looked like the boss door was way beyond his reach across a huge void, but then the red tint that he had learned came from the Lens of Truth showed small platforms scattered across the void, leading to the boss room. Putting on the hover shoes, Link ran from platform to platform, when he reached the boss door he took the shoes off, unlocked the door, and ripped the chains from it. Shoving the door open he walked into the room only to find it empty, except for a large hole in the dead center of it. Without even pausing Link walked over to the edge of the hole and jumped down through it.

When Link hit the ground he was a little caught off guard by his bouncing back up again slightly. He soon learned why though as a giant purple torso with a single red eye and two giant hands appeared behind him. The hands slammed down onto the floor, a thump sound rolling through the air, and Link realized he was on a giant drum. The torso and eye of the creature vanished and the hands began to move around the edge of the drum, still playing it.

Link watched the giant hands that moved around as they slammed down onto the drum and threw him slightly off balance. Suddenly one hand stopped and rose up way above his head. Looking up to follow it Link didn't notice the other hand slam back down onto the drum. Loosing his balance he fell onto his back and watched with wide eyes as the hand in the air came rushing down at him – and suddenly turned blue and moved back to the area of the main body, shaking. The other hand moved up into the air, and that was when Link noticed Misty on the other side of the drum.

Misty began to run towards him, shooting the other hand before it could come down on either of them. The other hand did the same as the first after it was hit, but when it reached the main body area, they balled into fists, lowered, and started to move towards the pair.

"Link quickly; give me the Lens of Truth!" Misty said stepping in front of him.

Link was getting good at getting over surprises with Misty, and handed over the lens right away. Misty put it back in her pocket and fired an arrow between the hands. There was a small monstrous cry, and then the torso and red eye of the monster appeared, seeming to be stunned. Link then understood what was going on.

Pushing himself to his feet he ran towards the red eye, drawing out his sword on the way. As soon as he got to the red eye he began slashing at it. He got in some good strikes before the eye disappeared from his sight. The hands backed off and began hitting the drum again, but Misty didn't give them a moments rest. As soon as they had moved off she shot the right one again, and then the left as it started to come towards them, palm facing her as if it meant to push her off the drum.

Again the hands balled into fists, and Link moved to stand next to Misty this time. She watched through a tint of red as the eye came towards them, and then shot it with an arrow when it was a safe distance away from them, but close enough for Link to get to it fast. Link moved in with his sword again, slashing at it with a determined rhythm. To his amazement, the shadow creature arched upwards and started to beat at the drum extremely fast before it slowed to a stop. Right then it dissolved into a black dust and then seeped through the floor, vanishing.

"Well that was easy." Misty commented as she stood with bow in hand.

Link just put his sword away, turned around, walked over to her, and pulled her into a tight embrace.

"I thought I had lost you to Ganondorf this time. If that had happened I don't know what I would have done." He said his voice cracking as he fought back tears.

"Link, I'm so sorry." She said, returning the hug. "I don't know what grabbed me or where I was taken. It looked like a prison, it was really dark, but it was some dungeon of the sorts."

"How did you escape and get back here so quickly?" He asked, pulling away from her but keeping his hands on her shoulders.

"Another spell. I had cast it as soon as we entered this temple. By casting it again I was able to appear here, it's kind of like the songs you play on the ocarina, I just found another path to the boss room."

"You're one smart girl." Link said smiling and hugged her again.

"I hate to break up this precious moment, but Impa is waiting for us." Navi said hovering over them.

Link pulled back again and nodded his head. Taking Misty's free hand he lead her over to the blue portal that would take them to the chamber of the sages.

When their feet touched down on the central triforce in the Sacred Realm, Impa appeared from the dais of the Shadow Sage, looking as stern as ever.

"The boy with the noble Zelda's Ocarina….As I expected, you have come. I am Impa, one of the Sheikah. I am Princess Zelda's caretaker, and I am also the sage who guards the Shadow Temple. We Sheikah have served the royalty of Hyrule from generation to generation as attendants. However…On that day seven years ago, Ganondorf suddenly attacked…and Hyrule castle surrendered after a short time. Ganondorf's target was one of the keys to the Sacred Realm….the hidden treasure of the Royal Family…The Ocarina of Time! My duty bound me to take Zelda out of Ganondorf's reach. When last I saw you, as we made our escape from the castle, you were just a lad….Now I see that you have become a fine hero…There's nothing to worry about…..The Princess is safe now. Soon, you will meet Princess Zelda face to face, and she will explain everything…That is when we, the six wise ones, will seal up the Evil King and return peace to Hyrule. I have to stay here…..You go to Princess Zelda's side and protect her on my behalf. Now I put my power, which should be helpful to you, into this medallion!"

Impa raised her hands and a medallion fell in front of the pair. Misty hardly noticed it turning into a mist and seeping into them though. Impa had said they would be meeting Zelda soon, and Link would be at her side, protecting her. Where would that place Misty? She wasn't jealous about the princess, more heart broken then anything. In fairy tales the Princess always ended up with the hero, and besides, Misty wasn't even from this world.

"Please look out for the Princess!" Impa's last words shook Misty from her dark thoughts and she looked around and realized they were standing in the graveyard again.

"Link, I know where the next temple is; I think we should continue right to it. I want to free the last sage and get rid of Ganondorf!" Misty said before Link could say a word.

Link looked at her for a moment, blinking a couple of times before he could answer.

"Uh ok, sure, lead the way."

Misty gave a small nod and turned away from him, jumped down from the small cliff that lead down to the Shadow Temple and made her way through the graveyard. Link looked to Navi to see if he had said something wrong again, but the fairy simply shrugged her shoulders, so he just followed after Misty.

As Misty walked through Kakariko Village she was pleased to see that Shiek had kept his word, and most of the houses that had been damaged by the fire were mostly fixed. She didn't spend much time looking at the handy work though; she walked straight through the village and down the stone steps that lead to Hyrule field. She smiled when she saw Epona still standing there and walked over to her, pulled herself up onto the saddle, and moved forward for Link who came up shortly behind her.

She gently turned Epona around and nudged her into a gallop. They crossed over the stone bridge, past castle town, and through Hyrule field. Link thought that since nothing was attacking them and no one else was around, that it would be a good time o talk.

"Misty is something wrong? You seem too quiet."

"I'm fine, just thinking about the exact location of the next temple." She answered, barley turning her head so that he could hear her.

Link let the subject drop as they turned onto a small rise, the dirt here red in colour, an odd comparison to the rest of Hyrule Field. They moved up the trail and around a corner away from Hyrule Field. Epona walked over a plank of wood that served as a bridge over a small lake whose water source looked like a small hole in the cliff. Misty slowly walked Epona farther into the valley and down a stone ramp to a bridge that was broken in the center. Far far below a strong river fell down a couple falls before vanishing around a bend. The other side seemed almost bare except for another path leading farther in and a white tent near the edge of the cliff.

"I suggest you hold on tight Link." Misty said as she backed Epona up.

Link knew exactly what she was going to do; they had already proven how well Epona could jump. Backing her up to the wooden plank, Misty nudged Epona into a dead out run. They raced along the red dirt, down the stone ramp and soared over the gap, landing gracefully on the other side. Misty was about to continue on their way when she noticed a guy standing outside the white tent. Steering Epona towards him, she gave a small smile in greeting, which seemed to give the guy a cue to go off on a rant.

"I am a master craftsman. Those Gerudo thieves….they broke the bridge. I want to fix it, but all my workers are gone! They said working as carpenters isn't cool, and they went to the Gerudo Fortress to become thieves…Hey, you! If you're going to the fortress, would you mind finding out what my workers are doing over there?" The over weight guy asked them.

"Sure." Misty said before turning Epona back towards the other path they had been headed to before. "We're going there right now, we'll send them back."

Nudging Epona back into an easy gallop, they moved around another bend in the cliffs, and down a long path that had a man made stone wall to their right, a cliff on their left. At the end of the path was a large stone gate, part of it wooden so they could lower and raise it. Misty turned Epona up another path they had come to after a set of long stairs and before the gate that lead up to the fortress. They didn't get very far though when a voice yelled out to them.

"Halt! Stay where you are!"

Suddenly they were surrounded by guards who pulled them from Epona as another grabbed onto the horse. They hauled Link away from Misty as one guard held her firmly by the arms.

"No! Let me go!" Link shouted, fighting against them.

"Shut up! Keep quiet!" One guard ordered him.

When Link didn't comply they decided that they had had enough with him. One of the guards came up behind him with one of the spears they carried around and waked him over the head with it. He hadn't even had the chance to get a good look at the guards, and the last thing he saw was Misty's wide eyed gaze as she was pulled off somewhere before everything went dark.

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**A/N: Nothing can stop me once I'm in the mood to write! Not even a sprained tendant in my finger which caused me a great deal of pain writting this! Anyway I hope you all liked the chapter, and may I remind everyone who reads this, I like getting reviews, they help me write faster! I would like to take this time to point out that I've planned for there to be only 5 more chapters left to this fanfic, it's not a long one I know but that's how its playing out. I remind everyone that if there is something they would like me to write about to please go to my profile to get one of my private emails and you can send me your ideas or wishes there. I'm also considering writting another fanfic to follow this one set in the majora's mask game which seems interesting, in my mind at least. I'd like to hear some thoughts on this idea too! If I get some possitive feedback then I'll post the breif summary of it in the next chapter, and maybe even an actual preview of it in the following chapter after that, it all depends on the feedback I get, hope to hear from you all!**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: I want to thank everyone for their understanding of why this chapter is so late in coming. Currently I'm arguing with a couple friends about my decision to leave so I'm not sure when the next chapter will be posted. Thanks to all again for your understanding.**

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_

_This chapter is dedicated _

_to the 7 BHS boys _

_who were killed in a car accident_

_The night of Friday, January 11th, 2008._

_Brothers, sons, and friends to all_

_You will never be forgotten._

_"They played together, they rolled together, they went out together." Anonymous_

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Link let out a groan as he slowly sat up rubbing the back of his head. He shifted as he sat there to see if there was any other damage to him, and noticed how light he felt. He gave a sharp intake of air as he padded himself down, cursing under his breath when he realized he didn't have any of his weapons. Leaning back on his hands he looked around the dark room, trying to see if there was another way out when he noticed one other thing…..

"For crying out loud! They even took my damn fairy!" Link shouted as he stood up and began pacing.

Looking around he noticed a square patch of dark sky high up on the wall in front of him. Backing up some he could see the wooden shutter of the window that was open to give him some extra air.

"If only I had my longshot, I could have escaped through that." He said softly.

A sudden clanking sound made him look up to the ceiling where another square opening was located, which he assumed, was where he had been tossed through in the first place. Backing up again and squinting a little through the darkness, he could make out that someone was up there moving around. Before he could say anything though the person held something out over the hole, which Link realized was his sword. The figure let go of it and Link dove to catch it so it wouldn't clang against the floor.

Curious as to why he got his sword back, he looked up again to try and see who was up there, only to find his shield over the hole now. Placing the sword down gently he dove for the shield as it was dropped also, then placed it down as he moved to catch his bomb bag, deku nuts, megaton hammer, iron boots, hover boots, blue and red tunic, longshot, Ocarina of Time, the lens of truth, and then finally Misty's bow and quiver.

Once he set everything on the ground he turned to find the figure lowering herself through the hole. He knew it was a she now because he could see the apparel of the Gerudo thieves. She allowed herself to drop down to the floor, and as she stood, carefully took a step forward as he watched her---and then he was suddenly blinded by a bluish white light.

"Hey Link! How's your head?" Navi asked bobbing around.

"Navi?" He asked in disbelief, and then looked to the Gerudo once he could see again. "Misty?"

"Duh, who else would give you back all your stuff in such a quiet manner?" Misty answered, obviously back in a good mood.

Misty was decked out in complete Gerudo elite guard garb, or at least what he had been told Gerudo guards looked like. She had on green pants that were cut down low in the front, the hem done up with gems. The pant legs belled outwards from the thigh, but were gathered at the ankle to give them a smooth appearance. Her shirt was also green in colour, but had a triangle that came from her two shoulders, down the middle of her chest that was a deep red. It was cut to almost right below her breasts and had no sleeves; a jewel was set in the middle of her chest, a chain of gold leading from it up to the large gold choker that was around her neck. She also had green coloured fingerless gloves that went up to her mid upper arm with small gems sown around the hem, and simple slipper like shoes, again with gems sown around the ankle.

"The hell? I get thrown into a hole for coming here and you get a new wardrobe." Link said as he began packing his things away.

"The Gerudo's are an all female group, they accepted me because I'm female and I proved myself worthy. You got thrown in here because they want nothing to do with you." Misty countered as she watched him.

"Right, well now we can get out of here." Link said holding up his longshot when everything else was back to where it was supposed to be.

"I don't know where you put everything." Misty commented as she walked over to him.

"Yeah, well that's my little secret." He answered as he slipped his arm around her waist, and pointed the longshot up to where the wooden shutter was.

Firing the longshot and hooking into the wood, they made their way up to stand on the window ledge. Putting his longshot away he looked out across the area. The Gerudo Fortress was directly to their left, a large complex series of levels of stone buildings all placed together. To their immediate right was the path they had rode up on, and ahead a clear path with three Gerudo's guarding it. Looking to the path again he noticed that there was a large mound with a pole sticking from the middle of it.

"I'm sure we can longshot onto that and jump down to the road from there without the guards seeing is." Link stated pointing out their path as he reached for the longshot again.

"Hang on Link." Misty said reaching out her hand to stop him. "I found that master carpenters workers, the Gerudo's locked them away in prison cells; we should try and free them."

"But if the Gerudo's find out that you helped me escape and then the workers wont they treat you as a traitor?"

"If they _don't_ suspect me of trying to help you then they have some mental issues. Just don't get caught freeing the workers and we'll be fine so long as I don't actually help you in the freeing."

"Alright then, how are we going to do this?"

"We can longshot to that mound as you had suggested, but instead of leaving, I'll take the arrow heads off my arrows and fire blunt sticks at the guards so it'll knock them out and we can run into the fortress through that opening." Misty said pointing to the open door directly across from the mound.

Link nodded his head in agreement and hooked his arm around her waist again and longshot their way down to the mound. Once they were on it they crouched down low as Misty began taking arrowheads off her arrows, handing Link some to do the same. Knocking the now less harmful arrow, she waited until the closest guard was well away from the others before she fired her arrow. The arrow struck the guard in the back of the head, rendering her unconscious. Misty carefully looked around to make sure no one saw them, and then she and Link dashed into the fortress.

The hall they entered was made of a dull grey stone, and the floors seemed to be no better. The two took a couple steps, but Misty stopped just before the corner.

"The first jail cell is around the corner, I can't continue yet."

Link gave a nod of his head and moved on alone. The room was square with another corridor on the other side, a skull of an ox with decorative feathers surrounding it hung above it. In the right hand corner closest to him were a couple jars, and in the other, a box. To the left of him was the jail cell, and Link walked into the room a bit before a man's voice called out to him.

"Hey, you! Young man, over there! Look over here, inside the cell!"

Walking over to the man in the cell, who was dressed in a blue vest and pink pants, Link gave a small nod for him to continue.

"I have no idea where you come from, but you must have a lot of guts to make it past all the guards around here! All of my fellow carpenters are imprisoned somewhere in here. If you can get us out we'll repay the favour some how! But be careful! There've sure to be Gerudo guards somewhere around here….Wow! Watch out!" The guy suddenly yelled.

Link turned around to find himself face to face with a guard that held two very large scimitars. She jumped at him and Link instinctively took out his sword and slashed her. The guard jumped back and then came at him again, but this time she blocked Links' attack. Backing up again she crouched down and jumped towards him spinning. Link blocked her assault with his shield and managed to strike her again. Even though she was wounded, they continued on with their dance until finally she fell backwards after Link cut her leg. She glared at him for a moment before she jumped up high and seemed to vanish, leaving behind a key. Link walked over and picked it up, turning to see the guy in the cell jumping up and down. Walking over Link unlocked the door and stepped inside to talk to him.

"Did you come here to save me? Oh, that's just swell! I'm Ichiro the carpenter. We were really interested in joining their all-female group, but they locked us up like this just because we're men! We don't' care about the Gerudo anymore! They're so rude! Three of my fellows have also been captured, so please help them escape too!" With that the guy turned around and ran out of the cell and down the corridor.

As soon as the guy had passed, Misty stepped into the room and she and Link moved down the opposite corridor, which brought them back outside. There was a door directly to their left so they took it and cautiously moved up the ramp. When Misty didn't see any guards around the corner they moved halfway down the hall until they found another corridor going upwards. They took that one and came out on one of the rooftops. Just around the corner of the building was a slightly higher roof top and a guard. Misty took down the guard and both moved through the door. While Misty stood at the very entrance, Link moved down the hall to where the next prison cell was. He spoke to the carpenter, who had green pants this time, and went through the process of taking out of the guard and getting the key, and then opened the prison door.

"You're a cute kid! Thank you for coming to save me! I'm Jiro, the carpenter. These women are scary! I'd rather work as a carpenter then join them! I can't wait to say goodbye to this place! Two of my buddies are still being held prisoner. Will you please get them out too?"

When Link promised he would Jiro ran out of the room, Misty coming in once he had left. Again Misty and Link moved in the opposite direction then they had come, and came out on a higher rooftop then they had been on before. This time though they climbed down some ivy and ran across a lower level to a door. Misty stopped again, and for the third time Link moved on ahead and defeated a Gerudo guard, and then had to put up with speaking to the carpenter who had grey pants.

"Thanks boy! You're fantastic! I'm Sabooru, the carpenter. Have you seen our boss boy? He's probably worried about me! I have to get back to him immediately! One more of our workers is still a prisoner. Please save him!" And that was when he took his leave.

When Misty walked into the room Link turned to look at her and shook his head.

"It's a damn good thing that I only have to do this four times because this is getting repetitive."

Misty simply laughed and continued to walk towards the exit, Link following after her.

It took them a bit longer to get to the last cell, having to go through more rooms and wait to take out more guards, but eventually they did reach the final one which had only one entrance to it. While Misty hung back Link went in and did his thing, taking out the guard in no time since he had started to figure out their fighting patterns. Defeating the guard he walked into the cell to speak with the carpenter who was also wearing pink pants.

"I was afraid you were going to forget about me! Now I'm free! Thanks! I'm Shiro the carpenter. For rescuing me, I'll tell you something interesting about the desert that I over heard the Gerudo's talking about. They said: 'In order to cross the Haunted Wasteland, you'll need the 'eye of truth.' The colossus is on the far side of the Wasteland…' Ok, now I'm going back to my tent near Gerudo Valley, so drop by sometime. You may find something helpful there! Byeee!" And then the final carpenter was finally gone.

Link sighed and rubbed his hands over his face, but tensed when he heard a female voice in front of him that did not belong to Misty.

"I've seen your fine work. To get past the guards here, you must have good thieving skills."

He lowered his hands to look at the Gerudo standing on the other side of the prison bars, but relaxed when he saw Misty leaning against the wall behind her.

"I used to think that all men, besides the Great Ganondorf, were useless…but now that I've seen you, I don't think so anymore!" The Gerudo continued. "The exalted Nabooru, our leader, put me in charge of this fortress. Nabooru is the second-in-command to the Great Ganondorf, King of the Gerudo thieves. Her headquarters are in the Spirit Temple, which is at the end of the desert. Say, you must want to become one of us, eh? All right then! You're in from now on! Take this, with it…you will have free access to all areas of the fortress!"

The Gerudo handed over a slip of paper, and Link only barley glanced at it as he watched the Gerudo walk away. As soon as she was gone Misty pushed herself away from the wall and moved to stand in front of him.

"She's gone to inform all the guards about your new membership so that they won't try to throw you back in the prison. I know you're probably tired from running around here, but I really think we should keep going, after all, this is our last sage to release, and soon this can all be over."

Link nodded his head and he followed her back through the corridors and out into the open. As he walked behind Misty towards the large gate that lead out into the desert he looked at the other guards, who simply gave a small nod of their heads to his passing. When they reached the gate Misty fell back a step, indicating that Link should be the one to talk to the guard. He approached her slowly, and the short red head gave him a smile and called out to him.

"Hey newcomer! If you have any business in the desert you'll have to talk to the guard at the top of the gate."

Suppressing a sigh, Link moved past her to the ladder against the gate and climbed up. At the top another guard greeted him as he topped the ladder.

"Hey rookie! Are you going into the desert? I'll open this gate for you, but…you can't cross the desert unless you pass the two trials. The first is…The River of Sand! You can't walk across this river! After you cross it, follow the flags we placed there. The second trial is…The Phantom Guide! Those without the eyes that can see the truth will only find themselves returning here. You are going anyway, aren't you? I won't stop you….Go ahead!" The guard clapped her hands and the gate began to rise. Link nodded his head in thanks and then moved back down the ladder, and together, he and Misty moved through the gateway and into chaos.

Sand was flying everywhere, the wind seeming to be picking it up and flinging it at them. Both sank down into the sand under their feet almost to mid calf. Misty took the lead then, heading farther into the desert. Link followed after her, shielding his eyes from the flying sand with his hands, shaking his head at Misty who only seemed to just dip her head and be fine. In front of them Link could see the River of Sand he had been warned about, and just before that was a box, which Misty climbed up onto. Once Link had joined her, she turned and leaned in close to be heard over the wind.

"Longshot us over there!" She yelled, pointing across the river to one of the flag poles the Gerudo's had put up.

Taking out the longshot, Link grabbed Misty around the waist and hooked onto the flag poll. Once they were on the other side, Misty took the lead again, being able to see the poles better then Link through the blowing sand. Link trusted her to lead the way, and apparently she was doing a pretty good job since they passed a flag pole every couple of feet. Soon the flying sand seemed to decrease some, and looking up, Link noted they had come to a small building. There was an opening that lead downwards and probably to shelter, but Misty turned to the right hand side of the building and made her way up the ramp that ran around the structure up to its flat roof a couple feet up. Link could hear something moving once they reached the top, though he couldn't see a thing. The two moved over to stand in front of the plaque that had been placed there, and Link read it out loud.

"One with the eye of truth shall be guided to the Spirit Temple by an inviting ghost."

He looked to Misty who smiled and Link held out his hand towards the desert, indicating that she should once again take the lead. Misty looked out, and with the power of the lens of truth, saw the ghost that would lead them.

The ghosts' voice rang out to both of them, but Link ignored what it was saying since Misty had jumped from the roof and had started running. They zigzagged through the desert, Link often wondering if the ghost was actually leading them to the temple or not. One such thought was passing through his mind when something green came up through the sand and started spinning towards Misty. She noticed it and dove out of the way before Link could even say anything, and was back up and running again. The green things, which Link thought looked an awful like mini volcano's, came at them from all sides, disappearing and then reappearing somewhere else.

Link was really starting to get annoyed with the little creatures and the whole desert when they suddenly entered a large area, the green things still came at them, but the sand no longer blew into their faces. The sun began to set as they ran across the large area that was sheltered all around by high cliffs, making their way to the large figure of the Desert Goddess that had been carved into the largest cliff face.

Night had fallen by the time they ran up the steps and finally entered into the final temple. They carefully entered and looked around at the desert style of the place. Moving up the stairs they looked to their left where a small entrance was, which neither of them could fit through, and to their right a high pressure jet of water blocked their path.

"What the hell?" Link said throwing his hands up into the air. "There's no way to get any further into the temple!"

"Maybe there's a way to get in from the outside?" Misty suggested, and since it was pointless to be inside, Link followed her back out.

They had only made it down one set of steps outside when Shiek suddenly jumped down in front of them, making his way towards them as he spoke.

"Past, present, future…The Master Sword is a ship with which you can sail upstream and downstream through time's river…The port for that ship is in the Temple of Time…To restore the Desert Colossus and enter the Spirit Temple, you must travel back through time's flow…Listen to this Requiem of Spirit…This melody will lead a child back to the desert."

The melody which the two played was haunting in its own way, but Misty much preferred it to that of the Shadow Temple. The three of them stood in silence as the last notes of the song finished echoing. Shiek still stood there staring at Link in silence, but when Link moved to walk towards him, the wind greatly picked up, completely blinding them with sand, and when it finally cleared, Shiek was gone.

"Well I guess its back to the Temple of Time for us." Link said pulling out his ocarina.

Misty wrapped her arms around him as he played the song that would bring them to the Temple of Time. Closing her eyes she felt the odd sensation that meant they were on their way, and as soon as the feeling went away, she opened her eyes again and they were standing in the middle of the temple. Once she let go of him, Link moved towards the back of the temple where he had first found the Master Sword. Misty walked slower behind him as she once again gazed around at the high stone ceiling. As she neared the stairs that lead to the Master Swords chamber, she gazed over at the pedestal that held the three large stones. Her eyes lingered on their beauty that always amazed her, before she moved into the Master Sword chamber. Link was standing up on the dais where the stone was, arms folded as he watched her. When she moved to join him he held up his hand and shook his head.

"You weren't with me when I went through my journeys seven years ago, I don't think it would be a good idea if you came."

"Link, it can't be any more dangerous back then compared to what it is now." Misty argued, though she stayed where she was.

"It's not the danger I'm worried about." Link said with a troubled look in his eyes. "Its probably much more dangerous leaving you here on your own, I just don't know how your presence back then will effect the now." At the nod of her head Link let out the breath he had been holding and took out the Master Sword. "Promise me you'll stay in this room until I get back."

"I promise." Misty said, hands held behind her back.

Link gave another nod of his head as he turned his back on her and plunged the Master Sword into the stone. A bright blue light surrounded the dais and shot up to the ceiling of the Temple. The light grew so bright Misty had to cover her eyes with her hand, and when the light faded and she could see again, the dais stood empty except for the Master Sword.

"I saw those fingers of yours crossed."

Misty turned around to see Shiek walking towards her, and she gave a sheepish smile as she replied.

"He's probably going go be gone a couple hours anyway; I can't sit here for that long, besides, staying in one spot for long isn't a good idea."

"How right you are." Shiek said holding out two blue crystals.

Misty took them and they shattered and seeped into her hand. Flexing her fingers she felt a chill pass up her arm and she looked a Shiek who then handed her a small pouch.

"I just gave you a shield charm and the ability to use the power of ice with your arrow. This pouch will also allow you to store large objects; it's really how Link holds so many things." He said. "And since you're probably already bored and really shouldn't stay in one place too long, you can do me a favour." He continued, and reached into his own pouch and pulled out a blue cucco which he handed to her. "Could you deliver this for me? The cucco lady in Kakariko village asked me to bring him to her brother, who's in the Lost Woods, to the left as soon as you enter."

"Alright, thanks for the stuff Shiek." Misty said laughing as she took the cucco and left the temple.

This time she was ready for the un-dead that wondered the market place, and soon enough she was outside the walls. Tucking the blue cucco under one arm, she pulled out the flute the Gerudo's had given her to call one of their own horses. Instead of playing the melody they had taught her though, she played Epona's song and smiled when the horse came to her call. Climbing up she moved Epona towards the forest, the horse responding to her just as well as she did Link. Once they were at the forest opening, Misty dismounted, and carrying the cucco wanna-be under her arm, she moved through Kokiri forest and up into the Lost Woods. As soon as she entered the cucco let out a loud caw. Looking down at it she frowned and continued to the left where she spotted the guy who owned the bird.

He wore yellow pants, and Misty could see how skinny he was because he wore no shirt. Every bone in his torso could clearly be seen, causing her to flinch slightly, thinking of how he looked like he could be blown away by a large gust of wind. When she moved closer to him she realized he was asleep, but when she shifted the cucco in her hands, it let out another loud caw, waking the guy up. As soon as his pale eyes saw the cucco they seemed to brighten up and he held his hands out as he spoke.

"Cojiro? Why? Normally only a nice guy like me can tame you…which means…you…you must be a nice guy! Must be! You must be!! Please Ms. Nice guy! Please! Deliver this tuff to the old hag in the potion shop in Kakariko village! This will disappear if you take too long, so you gatta hurry!"

When Misty agreed he handed her a mushroom, and then the guy cuddled up to his cucco. She didn't know when she had become a delivery service, but since Misty had nothing better to do she left the forest. Epona was where she had left her, and again they travelled across Hyrule field to the base of the stairs to Kakariko Village. Dismounting she ran up the stairs, through the village entrance, and took the stairs to the left that lead to the Death Mountain trail. Instead of continuing through she turned to the right and walked into the new potion shop. Moving to the left she moved through the back entrance, down the ladder, over a small patch of grass, and then up the steps and into the old potion shop. Walking to the counter she smiled to the old lady, but before she could say anything the old hag started sniffing the air.

"What a mysterious smell…you must have something." She said, and then continued as soon as Misty pulled out the mushroom. "That bum! He had to go into the forest…I see. Hey, give it to me now!" At the command she handed it over and waited a few moments as the hag did something before she was handed a bottle of some form of liquid.

"If you see that fool, give this to him. It is the strongest medicine I have ever produced. How ever, this potion will not work on a monster. They say that there is no medicine that can cure a fool….I guess that's true."

With the odd potion in her possession Misty shrugged her shoulder and left the potion shop, made her way through the village, mounted Epona, and made her way back to Kokiri Forest. When she entered the Lost Woods though the guy was no longer there, instead a little blond Kokiri girl was standing in his place. Walking over to her, she asked where the guy was, pulling out the potion.

"That guy isn't here anymore. Anybody who comes into the forest will be lost. Everybody will become a stalfos. Everybody. Stalfos. So, he's not here anymore. Only his saw is left. Hee hee. That medicine is made of forest mushrooms. Give it back!" Misty handed over the potion and the girl handed over the guys saw.

Walking away from the little girl who was laughing about something, Misty looked down at the saw in her hand.

"Now what am I supposed to do with this?" She asked herself, and then stopped when she came up to Epona. "Well, I know those carpenters are in Gerudo Valley, I guess I could give it to them since I have no use for it."

Mounting Epona, she turned towards Gerudo Valley, hoping the carpenters would take the saw off her hands. Reaching the valley, the two once again had to jump over the gap in the bridge, and Misty muttered about how lazy the men were. Dismounting she moved over to the chief of the carpenters and held out the saw, but again she wasn't given a chance to utter a word.

"Hey, that saw! It's mine! But….I thought I left that saw with my old lady…oh well…My Biggoron tool broke, so I was going to Goron City to get it repaired. Your coming here is great timing. Will you give me my saw?" When she did the guy laughed and continued. "Good kid! Thanks! I'm sorry I can't give you something as good in return, but…take this anyway!" He handed over the broken sword and Misty gave a soft sigh as she walked back to Epona.

"Looks like we're going to Death Mountain. At least we'll have an extra sword now besides the Master Sword as soon as I get this one repaired." She said, and they moved off to go see the goron who lived at the top of Death Mountain.

Link sighed and rubbed his eyes before staring at the locked door in front of him.

"I guess well have to double back again." Navi commented.

"Yeah, for like the fife time." Link muttered. "I bet we would have saved a lot of time if Misty had been with us."

"That may be true, but we don't know what would happen to the current future if she had come back with us and something had happened to her." The fairy reminded him.

"True, at least I know she's safe in the Temple of Time." Link said before turning and back tracking through the temple in search of another key he had missed.

As soon as the Biggoron stood up Misty knew something was wrong; his eyes were half closed and puffy, though she held up the broken sword and asked if he had been the one who had made it.

"That broken knife is surely my worrrrrrk…I really want to repairrrrrr it, but….but because of yesterrrrrrrrrdays errrrrrruption, my eyes are irrrrrrritated…There are fine eye drops in Zora's Domain…You will find them if you go to see Kinnnnnnng Zorrrrrrrra..Please go get the eye drrrrrrrops."

When she agreed to do it, the Biggoron gave her a prescription for the eye drops, and then she was jumping down the death mountain trail, through Kakariko village, and along the path that lead to the domain. Once she reached the waterfall that blocked the entrance, she pulled out her flute and played Zelda's lullaby she had heard Link play so many times before. Once the water had slowed enough, she jumped across and made her way up to the throne room. Standing on the pedestal, she pulled out the sheet of paper.

"I have a request for you King Zora." Misty said holding up the sheet so he could read it.

"Ooh…this is…well….hmmm…..hmmm….Eye drops." The king said as he read it. "You might say we have them, you might say we don't…..we do have the ingredients. If you take the ingredients to the doctor at the Lake Laboratory, he can make the drops for you. But you need to deliver them fresh…Can you make it before they spoil?" At Misty's nod he handed over a large eyed frog.

Giving a quick bow of her head, she turned and took off running through the domain, down through the large area that lead to the waterfall, mounted Epona and took off. She raced through Hyrule field and to Lake Hylia, where she dismounted and walked into the laboratory pulling out the frog in front of the scientist.

"Oh wow!" He exclaimed at the sight of it. "I haven't seen an eyeball frog like this since Zora's domain froze over! These eyeballs are so delicious! Tonight I will cook fried eyeballs for the first time in a long time! Uhoy hoy hoo houy hoy! Such great stuff! Please say thank you to King Zora!"

"It's for Biggoron." Misty interrupted.

"Eh? What? These are for making Biggorons eye drops? Oh how disappointing! You should have said so in the first place!" Taking the frog he turned around and did something with it, and before long he handed a bottle to Misty. "Here it is. This medicine doesn't have any preservatives in it. So it won't last long at this temperature. Run as fast as you can to Death Mountain. You're young-you can do it!"

Taking the new bottle she took off running from the building, jumping on Epona at a run, knowing she didn't have long. As soon as they moved through Hyrule field and made it to the stairs that lead up to Kakariko village, she jumped off Epona and dashed up the stairs, through the village, and up the mountain. By the time she was at the top she was out of breath, and simply held out the bottle to the Goron and said two words.

"Got….them."

"Rrrreally? You brrrrrrought the eye drops? I'm so rrrrrrelieved! I'm going to use them rrrrright now!" He took them and used the drops before shouting out. "Wowwwwwwwwww!" This is stimulating! It's worrrrrrrrrrking grrrrrrrrrrrreat! Now I can get back to my blade business! My worrrrrrrk is not verrrrry consistent, so I'll give this to you so you won't forrrrrrget. Afterrr a few days….Please returrrrrrrrrrn…..wait, just wait patiently……" The Biggoron leaned over and handed her a stone with a picture of a sword and writing she couldn't read engraved on it.

"Must be a check claim." She muttered to herself and waved goodbye to the Goron as she made her way back down Death Mountain.

Misty had hung around with the cucco lady she and Link had stayed with before while she waited for her sword to be completed. As she made her way back up Death Mountain to claim the sword, she had to admit that it had been a very relaxing past couple of days. She had helped look after the cucco's, and had started to get attached to them. When she finally pulled herself over the final ledge, she pulled the stone claim check from the bag Shiek gad given her and called out to the Biggoron.

"Heyo!"

The Biggoron stood and turned around, and then smiled when she held out the claim.

"That sworrrrrrd is my finest worrrrrrrk!' He said as he handed her a long blade.

Misty took it with both hands, held it up for a moment, and then took a step back as the point of the blade leaned and then fell to the ground.

"Thanks." Misty told the Goron as she pulled it away from him to a private nook in the cliff face.

She stared down at it and shook her head before she pulled out her special bag. Setting the bag at the tip of the sword, she pulled upwards, and the sword vanished. Standing back up she laughed a little as she put the bag away.

"Apparently only Link is going to be able to use that sword." She said laughing, and then her features turned to shock. "Oh me God! Link! I'm supposed to be at the Temple of Time!" She said before turning and running faster then she ever had in her life, hoping Link had been an idiot and had done something to keep him tied up in the temple for the couple of days she had been gone.


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: Ok, so who almost went into shock when she found four wonderful reviews to a couple of her chapters. Raises hand Seriously, long reviews with such detail in them is what I'm looking for! So thank you very much to: **Chidamoto, Xinzinsin, Yamada, and Cactus. (**You know, granted you're not all the same person) In any case, this chapter goes out to all because I felt so inspired! Just dont expect another one so soon.**

**Oh, and just for those who havent played Master Quest and are reading this anyway, its the exact same as Ocarina of Time, except the puzzles in the dungeons are different, they're supposed to be harder, but I find them easier, seriously, I beat the Spirit Temple on older Link's half in a half hour, and that was with writting at the same time!**

* * *

Misty stopped in front of the dais that held the Master Sword, bent over gasping for breath. Since she wasn't already being yelled at for leaving, she assumed Link wasn't back yet. Lifting her head up she confirmed her hopes with the sight of the Master Sword still in its stone. Clearing her throat she stood up, her breathing already starting to get under control. She stood there in silence with her eyes closed, the dampness of the temple cooling her down. After a couple minutes she opened her eyes again and ran her hands through her hair, placing it back into order so that it was as if she had never left. No sooner was she done then the same extreme blue light suddenly surrounded the dais. Once she could see again she watched as Link returned the Master Sword to its sheath. She noted that he now wore a silver pair of gauntlets, and that he had never looked as handsome as he did when he turned to look for her. The remembrance that she had to leave him soon broke her heart, but she knew that they could never be together, so she locked her emotions away as she stepped forward.

"For your sake, those gauntlets better mean we can get through the whole temple now. What the heck took you so long?" She asked in mock anger, hands on hips.

"Ok, don't start." Link said laughing, relieved that she had actually listened to him and had stayed in the temple. "We had to back track so many times it wasn't even funny. The area wasn't even that big, but what should have taken a couple hours took a couple of days. It's a good thing Navi convinced me to pack some food and water."

"Well I've been travelling with you for awhile Link." Navi commented. "So I know how well you do in dungeons."

"Hey!" Link said, glaring at the fairy who suddenly decided to hover around Misty's head.

"Alright you two." Misty said laughing. "Let's get this show on the road already, I want to get this done and over with."

Link gave Navi one last dirty look before he moved down the dais, pulling out the Ocarina as he did so. Misty wrapped her arms around him, closing her eyes as the notes washed over her. She would miss being this close to him, even though she still had a good month or so left with him, it still seemed too short a time.

When the environment changed around them she opened her eyes to the blazing desert sun. Once she let go of Link the two dashed across the sand from the Spirit Dais to the steps that lead up to the temple, dodging the volcano looking creatures along the way. Again they entered the temple, and Misty took in the fact that there were now three chests on the platform that they moved up onto.

"Up there." Link said pointing upwards.

Misty looked up and saw that there was a neat square opening with a place for the longshot to hook into. Link pulled out the longshot and together they pulled themselves through the opening. They entered into a small corridor and moved down a flight of steps until they reached the end, where a large stone blocked their path. Link leaned against the block, and with the power of the silver gauntlets, moved it down the corridor until it fell into a deep hole, giving them access to the rest of the corridor. Moving down and turning to the left they went through a door at the end and entered into a large room. There was another statue of the Desert Goddess in the heart of the room. As Misty moved further into the room Link let out a small groan.

"I was in here before." He muttered in answer to her questioning look. "It was not a fun time."

"Yeah, but now you have me working with you." Misty said with a smile. "Come on; let's go see what this temple has to offer."

Link smiled back and followed after her as she began to scope out the room, knowing that sooner or later he would have to gather up the nerves and ask her to stay with him, even after Ganondorf was gone.

Misty stood next to a large stone pillar that had a torch on it, and from her vantage point she could see two others, one on either side of the statue. Pulling out her bow and arrows, she knocked one and called on the power of fire. She lit the two furthest and then took a step back in order to light the third. Both heard iron bars rising up, and Link pointed over to a ledge they couldn't reach. Walking over to the bottom most platform that was too high for them to climb up, they stared at it for a moment before Link slapped his forehead with his hand.

"I know what to do." He said and took a couple steps away before he stopped and turned back to look at her. "Just stay in this corner and you should be fine. Navi stay with her." He said and then jogged out of the room.

"Amazing." Navi said as Misty took a seat in the corner. "He actually has an idea."

"Navi!" Misty said laughing as the fairy came to rest on her knee. "You should give Link a little more credit then that. He has the smarts to figure everything out on his own."

"I know, he just chooses not to and lets you do all the thinking, his mind has gotten lazy since you've been here. I really don't know if he could have gotten though everything as fast as he did though if it wasn't for you Misty. You really mean the world to him now."

"I know." Misty said softly. "That's why it's going to be so hard when I have to leave when all this is over."

"Must you really leave?" The fairy asked looking up at her.

"I don't belong in Hyrule Navi….I really wish I could stay with both of you, but I have to return to my own home, there are people there that I know miss me."

"Your home….your friends and family…can you tell me about them?" Navi asked with only a slight hesitation.

"Sure." Misty said, smiling down at the fairy, and began her story, being careful of exactly what she said, keeping away from all modern terms.

A little over two and a half hours passed with the two girls talking before they hear a door open. Standing up, Misty relaxed when she watched as Link came around the corner, Ocarina in hand.

"I've got two keys and a way to get up there now." He said and played a song on the Ocarina she had never heard before.

Hearing a shuffling noise Misty looked up to the edge of the platform to see a scarecrow had suddenly appeared there. Looking at Link, Misty smiled and shook her head. Once they had longshot their way up to the platform they climbed the stairs up to the third level and unlocked the door. They entered into another corridor with winding stairs, though they didn't get far when flames leapt up in front of them. Looking up Link spotted another place where they could longshot to, and soon they were on their way again.

The next room they entered into made them stop and pause, having to let their minds figure out the area before they could go on. There were three doors in total; the one they had just come through, one on the opposite end of the wall from theirs, and the last one mirrored the other on the opposite wall, both locked. The floor was made in stripes, reminding Misty of a tic-tac-toe board with bottomless pits separating the stripes. On the wall to their right was a long scripture neither of them could read, a blue Stone of Time hanging in front of it, another Stone of Time was on a wider floor tile not far from them. The thing they had to stop and think about though was that there were four monsters on the stripes of floor.

"Those head things will shoot lasers at us if we get too close right?" Misty asked pointing at one.

"Yeah."

"What are they called again?"

"Doesn't matter."

Link pulled out a bomb and tossed it at one of the things, exploding it on contact. He did the same for the other three before the two carefully moved into the room to look around. Looking at the Stone of Time that was on the ground he pulled out his Ocarina and played the Song of Time, figuring it was his best bet. The stone vanished, revealing a blue switch, reappearing under the other blue stone.

"Well that helps a whole lot." He said sarcastically. "We don't have anything to weigh that switch down with."

"Link, play the song again." Misty said, eyes locked on the stones.

Link did as he was told thinking it was pointless, but Misty saw what he didn't.

"Once more."

When the stones were done changing places Misty smiled and tuned to Link as she pointed behind her.

"And there's your box to weigh the button down."

Sure enough when Link moved to stand by her, there was a small box on the bottom stone. Shaking his head he jumped over the small gap, grabbed the box, and moved back to place it over the switch. The bars of the lone door on the far side shot up, and Link and Misty moved into the next room.

Just as the door closed behind them a lizard warrior jumped at them, and Link had to push Misty out of the way, fighting against the one that had come at them, and trying to keep a second one from getting past him. Misty knelt where she had been shoved and was about to take out her bow when she noticed the shadow under her was too large. She watched it was it kept growing and then jumped out of the way just in time as the Ceiling Master hit the floor. She moved in one fluid motion as she got to her feet, drew out her bow, knocked an arrow and summoned the power of ice. A blue glow that seemed to hold ice particles surrounded the arrowhead for a moment before she let the arrow lose. It hit the Ceiling Master square in the side, encasing it in a block of ice. Smiling to herself she turned to help Link out with the lizard warriors.

As the second warrior was finally taken down, Link tuned to see Misty, hands holding her bow behind her back, standing next to the Ceiling Master, who was starting to break through the ice. Walking over, he waited until it broke through and then made quick work of it. Nodding to each other, they moved off through the door to the left and into another stair corridor. Misty still held the Lens of Truth on her person, and as soon as she looked up her vision tinted red to see a Floor Master as it flew towards them.

"Floor Master!" She cried as she slammed herself into Link to knock him out of the way.

Link heard the impact the Floor Master made as it hit the wall and pulled out his sword and struck where he thought it was. He was rewarded by a resistance against his blade as he made contact with the creature. He only struck it twice more and then quickly backed off to Misty's side knowing that it would break into three smaller Floor Masters. As soon as Link was next to her, Misty reached around and called fire to her. Bringing her arm back around she slammed her hand on the ground, fire erupting and moving out around them. Link watched as three places caught fire and then a door behind them unlocked. Turning around they climbed the rest of the stairs and entered a room Link recognized.

"Ok, wow Misty." He said grabbing her arm and nudging her to the left corner. "This is where I would like you to stay now."

"Why?" Misty asked looking around the room.

Again it was square in shape; tall columns ran down from the door to the center of the room and then turned to the right. At the end of the columns was another door, but it was what was in front of the door that had Misty following Link's request. A large stone throne was placed right in front of the door, and seated up the throne was a figure dressed heavily in armour, a gigantic two handed axe held in its hands, resting across its lap.

"Yep." Misty said reaching the corner, "I'll stay right here."

Misty watched as Link drew out his sword and shield, walked up to the thing, slashed at it, and then backed up as it stood. For the most part its movements were very slow, Link easily moving out of the way as its axe strikes, moving in and slashing at it as the creature tried to recover from its own attacks. She was feeling pretty confident this would be over soon with ease when Link suddenly struck it, and some of its armour fell off. With the decreased weight the Iron Knuckle was able to move much faster. At one point Link was forced to dive behind one of the columns, but the axe put quick work to the stone. Misty fidgeted as she watched Link roll out of the stone rubble and get back on his feet as he slashed at the thing. Finally it let out a bestial growl, burst into blue flames, and vanished.

"Well that was intense." Misty said as she joined Link, and then the two walked through the door that had been unlocked with the monsters defeat.

The door lead them outside, and Link realized that they were now on the opposite hand of the large Desert Colossus's to where he had found the silver gauntlets. There was another large chest in front of them, and Misty walked forward and opened it.

"Oh! Pretty!" She said as she pulled out a shield whose surface was made of a mirror with thick red steal trim. "Can I have it?" She asked turning to look at Link.

"Sure." He said. "You should have extra protection anyway."

"Awesome." She said as she slipped it onto her back. "And I also noticed a couple places in the temple where its mirror surface will come in handy."

Misty and Link stood still as the platform they were on lowered down so that they were in line with the statue of the Desert Goddess's face. The sunlight they had passed through mirrors in the room above them shone down on them. Misty took the mirror shield and used it to reflect the sunlight onto the face of the statue. The stone crumbled, revealing a gate behind it. They longshot their way over to it, and as the gate opened, they could see the boss door behind it. Walking to it, they unlocked the door and brushed aside the chains, walking in.

They entered into another square room with columns, but this time two witches stood in front of the Iron Knuckle. Link moved in front of Misty, drawing out his sword and shield, and as he did so, the witch with a blue crystal headdress turned to look at him.

"Ho ho ho! Looks like someone is here, Koume."

"Hee hee hee! Looks like it, Kotake." Koume said, turning to look at him, she with a red headdress.

"What an outrageous fellow he is, to intrude so boldly into our temple….Ho ho ho!"

"We should teach this outrageous fellow a lesson! Hee hee hee!" They continued, not noticing Misty since she had slipped behind a pillar.

"Oh loyal minion….Destroy this intruder on our behalf." They chimed as they floated on their brooms next to the Iron Knuckle.

As the witches vanished the Iron Knuckle stood up, raised its hands above its head and laughed, though it stopped when it realized it didn't have a weapon. Looking at its hands a moment, it snapped its fingers, and then an axe appeared. It lifted its axe above its head and laughed again before it advanced towards Link. Ready for it, Link made a quick work of the enemy, finding that it acted differently then the ones he had fought before. Finally at one of his strikes the things armour fell off, and Link gasped as Nabooru fell from its confinements, on the floor on her hands and knees, she looked up at him

"Unnnh…where am I?" She said, and then the witches appeared again.

"Well, well…Looks like she's back to normal….Koume…"

"She's just a little girl, but she commands a lot of respect among the Gerudo, Kotake…"

"Maybe we should make her work for the great Ganondorf for a little while longer! Ho ho ho!"

"Then we should brainwash her again! Hee hee hee!"

The witches summoned up their powers, and even though Nabooru got up to run away, the magic still struck her and she vanished, along with the witches.

"It's not over; we have to get rid of those witches." Misty said coming out from her hiding place behind the pillar.

"Yeah I know." Link said, looking at her a moment before turning and moving towards and through the door behind the throne.

They moved down a torch lit corridor and then through another door into a huge room. There was a giant platform in the very center, and then four smaller platforms on each side of it. They moved over to the largest platform and climbed up. When they reached the center the voices of the witches called out to Link.

"Look at that stupid kid! He came on his own to offer himself as a sacrifice to the Great Ganondorf."

The room grew dark and both could see two sets of ruins, one on the platform to their right, the other to their left. The one on their left grew red and one of the witches came through it.

"With my flame, I will burn you to the bone." She said and laughed as her hair seemed to turn to flame.

The ruins on their right grew white, and then the other witch came through.

"With my frost, I will freeze him to the soul." And then she laughed and her hair seemed to turn to frost.

The witches circled around them before they broke off in opposite directions, and the real battle began.

Misty watched the witches as they moved, shifted her weight and felt the mirror shield shift on her back, and then a sudden idea came to her head.

"Witches use magic! Reflection!" She suddenly cried and stepped in front of Link. "Link! Stay behind me always!"

"What?"

"Shut up and just do it!" She said, shield in hand.

The first witch to do something was the fire one. Fire ruins appeared in the air before her, and she used her broom to shoot a beam of fire at them. Misty crouched down and used her shield to deflect the beam of fire away from them, and hit the ice witch. The witch let out a small cry as she was hit and hung in the air for a moment before she moved on, this time it was she who used her ice magic on them, but again Misty deflected it and hit her sister with the magic. The battle carried on in the same manner for awhile, to the point where Link was starting to get bored, when the witches suddenly grew angry.

"Ok lets get serious now Koume."

"Oh. Ok Kotake."

The witches flew together and circled and cried out as one: "Kotakes and Koume Double Dynamic Attack!"

There was a flash of light as their powers combined, and when Misty and Link could see again, a single witch floated in front of them. She was dressed all in black as a Gerudo might be, but one half of her long hair was made of flame, the other of ice. She also held two sceptres: one fire, one ice. The witch moved away from the duo to one of the side platforms, and shot a ball of ice at them. Misty brought her shield up in front of them, but it didn't send the ball back. Looking at her shield she realized it had trapped the witches' power. The same thing happened at the second ice ball, though she could feel the power vibrating through it. At the third shot though, the ice energy was released and shot back at the witch and struck her, causing her to fall to the platform.

"Link, now!" Misty called,

Link jumped to the witch and struck her, getting in three good hits before the witch pulled herself back into the air. They continued on with the process until finally the witch dropped her sceptres and broke back into the two witches who reappeared at the heart of the platform. A light shone over them and halos appeared over their heads, at which point they started bickering at each other. Misty and Link watched them as they ascended into heaven, and then went about their own business in silence.

As they entered the Chamber of Sages, they landed in front of the Spirit Dais, and Nabooru appeared before them.

"Kid, let me thank you." She started. "Heheheh…look what the little kid has become in the past seven years—a competent swordsman! By the way…I really messed up…I was brainwashed by those old witches and used by Ganondorf to do his evil will….But isn't it funny? That a person like me could turn out to be the Sage of Spirit! And now I'm going to fight them as one of the Six Sages! Heh heh…I'm going to pay them back for what they did to me! Kid….No….Link, the Hero of Time! Instead of keeping the promise I made back then, I give you this medallion! Take it!"

She raised her hands above her head and the Spirit Medallion came down in front of them, spinning there before it turned into a mist and entered their bodies, giving them knew strength.

"If only I knew you would become such a handsome man….I should have kept the promise I made back then." Her voice said as the Sacred Realm began to fad away, but then a new voice called out to them, that of the Sage of Light.

"Link, the Hero! Finally, all of us, the Six Sages, have been awakened! The time for the final showdown with the King of Evil has come! Before that, though, you should meet the one who is waiting for you….The one who is waiting for you at the Temple of Time…."

As soon as they touched back down in the desert, Link pulled out his Ocarina and played the song that would bring him to the Temple of Time. Misty had to jump to get a hold of him, and she was just in time to get caught up in the magic. As soon as they got there a familiar voice called out to them.

"I have been waiting for you Link."

They turned around to see Shiek, and as he continued talking, Misty took a couple steps back.

"Link, the Hero of Time…You have overcome many hardships and awakened six sages. And now you have a final challenge, a showdown with Ganondorf, the King of Evil…Before that…I have things I want to tell only to you. Please listen. Another unknown legend of the Triforce passed down by the shadow folk, the Sheikahs…."

Shiek went on to tell Link the story about how the Triforce worked, though Misty already knew the story of how if one with an un-pure heart touched it, how it would break into three parts, only one remaining with the one who touched it in the first place, and the other two finding those of destiny.

"Seven years ago, Ganondorf, the King of Thieves, used the door you opened into the Temple of Time and entered the Sacred Realm. But when he laid his hands on the Triforce, the legend came true. The Triforce separated into three parts. Only the Triforce of Power remained in Ganondorfs' hand. The strength of the Triforce of Power enabled him to become a mighty, evil king, but his dark ambitions were not satisfied. To gain complete mastery of the world, Ganondorf started looking for those chosen by destiny to hold the other two Triforce parts. The one who holds the Triforce of Courage is…You, Link! And the other, who holds the Triforce of Wisdom…is the Seventh Sage, who is destine to be the leader of them all…" Shiek held up his hand, and the symbol of the Triforce glowed on the back of it before Link was blinded by the light.

When he could see again he gasped, for standing in Shieks' place was the princess.

"It is I, the Princess of Hyrule, Zelda. I apologize for meeting you in disguise, but it was necessary to hide from the King of Evil. Please forgive me…On that day…Seven years ago, Ganondorf attacked the castle." Zelda launched into another tale, again one Misty already knew, and to be frank, she was getting tired of all the stories and talking.

"As long as you had the Ocarina in your possession, I thought Ganondorf could never enter the Sacred Realm, but….something I could never expect happened…After you opened the Door of Time, the Master Sword sealed you away in the Sacred Realm…Your spirit remained in the Sacred Realm…and then the Triforce fell into Ganondorfs hands. He went on to invade the Sacred Realm…Ganondorf had become the Evil King, and the Sacred Realm become a world of evil. All of this is an unfortunate coincidence. I passed myself off as a Sheikah and hoped that you would return. I waited for seven long years….And…now you are back. The dark age ruled by Ganondorf the Evil King will end! The Six Sages will open the sealed door and lure Ganondorf back into the Sacred Realm. I will then seal the door to the Sacred Realm from this world. Thus, Ganondorf the Evil King will vanish from Hyrule. Link…In order to do this, I need your courage again. Please protect me while I do my part."

Once she was done talking for a moment, waiting for Link to respond to her, the Temple began to shake, and Zelda took a step back and turned around.

"That rumbling…..It can't be!?" She said before she was suddenly encased in a pink crystal.

Link ran up to her and placed his hands against the crystal as another male voice rang through the temple.

"Princess Zelda….you foolish traitor! I commend you for avoiding my pursuit for seven long years. But you let your guard down…I knew you would appear if I let this kid wonder around! My only mistake was to slightly underestimate the power of this kid…No…It was not the kids' power I misjudged, it was the power of the Triforce of Courage! But, with the Triforce of Wisdom that Zelda has…when I obtain these two Triforce's…Then, I will become the true ruler of the world!! If you want to rescue Zelda, come to my castle!" The voice of Ganondorf rang throughout the temple, and then Zelda vanished.

"Damn it!" Link yelled moving over and punching the wall. "Misty let's go, we have to actually have a plan to go into his castle to make sure that Zelda doesn't get hurt." Link said moving towards the exit.

"Uh, Link?" Navi said, not following.

"What?" Link said turning around, only then noticing that Misty was no longer behind him. "Misty? Misty!?" He called, panic starting to well up inside him.

He ran through the temple and into the Master Swords Chamber. At first he didn't see anything, but then a blue light appeared and Misty and Rauru stepped forward. Link stopped walking and looked from one to the other, not understanding what was going on.

"Link." Rauru started. "Misty is not from Hyrule and has powers that have been given to her. That, along with the knowledge she carries in her own head is a dangerous force to Ganondorf. You must never let him have her. When I felt the Evil King's power I took her out of the temple, but I could not get Zelda out in time. I must return to the Sacred Realm now, remember, keep Misty safe." He said, and then was gone.

Link stared at Misty for a moment, and she shifted under his gaze.

"Why didn't you tell me this?" He finally asked.

"And what was I supposed to say?" She asked, eyes misting some. "I had no idea what was going on when I got here, and then we got caught up with freeing the sages. I still don't fully understand why Ganondorf wants me." She finished, coming close to tears.

"Oh, Misty." Link said, and strode forward, taking her into his arms and holding her tightly. "I'm sorry, I just don't understand any of this either. Let' go back to my house and get something to eat and figure out what to do next."

A couple hours later Misty sat on Links bed as she watched him pace back and forth. She had changed back into her jeans and black t-shirt she had been wearing when she had arrived in Hyrule. She had on her watch which was still amazingly working, her black wrist band with the cherry on it, mood ring that hung around her thumb, and her daughters pride ring. The butterfly pendant though was now hanging around Link's neck, replaced by a piece of real sapphire hung on a silver chain. Link had given it to her saying that it would bring her good luck and protection for the times ahead, and she had given him the butterfly, since it was her own good luck charm.

"Alright." Link finally said coming to a stop. He had taken off all his weapons and had scattered them around the room, all but the Master Sword. "I'm going to go talk to the Deku Sprout to see what he has to say." He walked over and kissed Misty on the head, smiling down at her as he stood. "You should get to sleep, I know it's still early in the evening, but you'll need your energy when we finally decide to make our move. I'll be back sometime tomorrow morning." He said, waved and then walked out of the house with Navi.

"Link, we can't wait that long." Misty said to the empty house and then stood up. "Zelda and Hyrule need us to take action now. There's going to be more traps in Ganondorfs castle, it could take days to get through them all." She said, and then came to her decision.

She moved around the house, picking up Link's weapons and stuffing them into her special bag. She slung her bow and quiver over her back, and then placed the shield on top of it. Finally she picked up the silver gauntlets, and gave a grim smile when they moulded to her arms. Walking to the door she stopped and put her hands against the door frame.

"When Link enters with my butterfly around his neck, don't let him leave until I give the command." She said, and her hands glowed blue as did the surrounding door frame.

She looked back over her shoulder once more and smiled into the empty room as she spoke.

"You need your energy to face off against Ganondorf, be safe Link. It's better that we separate now, and each do our own thing. I love you Link." She said, and then walked off into the setting sun.


	12. Chapter 12

**_A/N: Ok well it took me all week and weekend to finally get this chapter up, and I really didnt do a whole lot of school work, so the next chapter may take two or three weeks to get up. Please note, the next chapter is the FINAL CHAPTER. All good things come to a close, but please, read my IMPORTANT note at the end of this chapter. Also, I hope this answers a couple peoples questions as to how or why some past things happened, and sorry, but I jumped around a lot between Misty and Link, sorry if anyone gets confused. Thank you._**

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Hyrule castle and the surrounding area had been completely changed. Where once beautiful gardens and paths that crossed the lush green lawn before the castle, was now nothing more then a gaping drop down to a pit of lava. The beautiful entrance gate was now demolished, its rubble blocking the path to the right except for a small path through the middle. The castle had become a demented twisted structure. Where once tall proud white towers stood high, now black spires rose to meet the dark clouds over head. The black fortress floated over the center of the lava pit, seeming to have been ripped from the ground, with no means to reach it.

Misty stood at the edge of the cliff across from where the entrance to the fortress was heat waves from the lava below brushing her hair back. Things hadn't turned out as she had planned. She should have been here standing next to Link, should have been the one to just watch the events unfold before her, helping where she could. Fate had woven a different thread though, and she didn't have much of a choice to be here.

_'It's not fair, I shouldn't have to do this, Hyrule isn't even my home.'_ She thought angrily, closing her eyes as she recalled the events leading up to her position.

_She stood there in silence as she only half listened to what Zelda was saying. Zelda, she had been the one who gave Misty all her spells, and had also helped her get back to Link at the Shadow Temple in time to help him with the boss. Now though, Zelda commanded all of Link's attention, and Misty was feeling insignificant, like her role was now over once Zelda had finally stepped into the picture._

_"As long as you had the Ocarina in your possession…" Zelda started, but Misty never heard the rest of it._

_The air around her seemed to grow thick and chilled, the air seeming to steal her voice, so that as something pulled her backwards, she couldn't utter a sound. It felt as if she was being pulled through water, the area around her darkening to near black, and then from no where she was blinded by a blue light._

_When she could open her eyes again she floated in the middle of nothingness, though she was not alone. Three women seemed to stand before her: one was dressed in green with shoulder length green hair; one dressed in blue with long flowing blue hair; one all in red with short spiked red hair. Even without introductions Misty knew who they were, she was using a spell from each of them. _

_"Welcome to our realm." The Goddess Naru said._

_"We are sorry we had to take thee in such a manner." Farore said looking directly at her._

_"But we have gazed into the future, and the fate of our precious Hyrule rests within thy actions." Din followed up._

_"Wha-what?" Misty started, looking from the face of one goddess to the other. "How is that even possible? I wasn't even supposed to be here. I only have meagre spells Zelda gave me and I'm no fighter, I don't see how this is even possible."_

_"Fate designed it so that Link would carry out his whole journey on his own." Naru started. "Thy coming here was unexpected. Thy thread of fate kept entering into this world, and when it was finally pulled all the way in, it upset the wave of the life of Hyrule."_

_"Because thy thread started to weave next to Link's," Din picked up. "It has changed his fate. He was supposed to awake all the sages on his own and gain all their power. Because you worked with him though, their power was divided into two, meaning he is not as strong as he should be. Fate now show the two of you going through the traps of Ganon's castle together, but when the final showdown is at its peak, thy energies shall run out, you shall return home, and Link shall fall, and Ganondorf shall gain his full power and the world shall know Hyrules' pain."_

_Misty's hand flew to her mouth as she gasped, but before she could say anything, Farore held up her own hand and spoke._

_"We have taken the liberty to interfere with what fate has planned out. If you accept, we will give you the powers to make it to Ganon's castle and keep Link from joining the fight too soon. The threads of fate will be woven in another way, and Link shall come out victorious, know this though, should you accept to go this way, thy life could be forfeit. Thy body will not be used to carrying such power, and along with the physical strain, you may not make it through."_

_Misty floated in silence, staring into nothing. This wasn't her land, wasn't even her world, but she had the chance to save everyone. She thought of all the people she had met along the way, everyone had been so nice, and Link, she had to admit now that she had fallen in love with him. She now had the power to save or damn this whole world, the choice to go home or to perhaps die. Such a large decision should not be hers to make alone, but it was, and she had to decide soon. But then Naru spoke, as if she had read her mind._

_"You may take your time with this choice. When you have made a decision, thy heart shall know, we will know, and thy powers shall be granted to thee. Rauru will take you back to the temple now."_

_Rauru, the sage of light suddenly appeared and held out his hand to Misty. She took it, and then the world around her began to fade, but she could hear the voice of all three goddess's as one as they called out to her._

_"Don't take too long though, Chosen One of Destiny."_

Misty opened her eyes again and without another seconds thought, stepped out over the lava pit. The wind picked up around her, tugging at her clothing and hair. Each foot step she took seemed to be supported by almost transparent blue diamonds. Even though it seemed as if she would plunge to her death at any moment, she walked with sure steps, knowing the power of the goddess's were with her. When she finally stood at the very entrance of the castle, wind brushed her face like a gentle caress, and the voice of Farore seemed to be carried with it.

_"This is the extent of our powers. Be safe and good luck, Chosen One."_

Now, finally alone, Misty squared her shoulders and moved into the castle. She entered into a long corridor, the walls made of stone with a unique trim, the floor, which turned into stairs moving down was a plush purple carpet. Halfway down large torches burned, and two giant, flying skulls blocked her path.

Misty pulled out her bow and fired two arrows, striking the skulls with deadly accuracy. Once they were gone, she moved down the stars, where she was met with two statues she knew would explode if hit with a bomb, and behind them, guarding the bar locked door, was an Iron Knuckle.

"Oh piss off!" She yelled, but got right down to business.

First she brushed her hand against the statues so that they came to life, and as soon as they were away from the Iron Knuckle, she threw a bomb at them. Once the bomb exploded the statues began spinning around incredibly fast and exploded themselves. Taking a deep breath she threw another bomb at the Iron Knuckle and it came to life. Even though it was only slowly walking towards her she felt close to panic. Standing just in range for her bombs to reach, she began chucking them at it. When one bomb knocked some of its armour off, it growled at her and charged. Screaming she dove out of the way as its axe came down at her. Scrambling to her feet she went mad with the bombs. When it finally dropped to its knees and burst into a blue flame, she dropped to her own knees and began to question her sanity. When the bars on the door slide up though, she pulled herself together and moved on.

The next room she entered into was very large and had two levels. In the heart of the room was the entrance to Ganon's Tower, though a barrier blocked her path. Feeding the barrier its energy were six beams of power, each the colour representing the sages. Looking to her right she saw the one for the forest, and shrugging her shoulders, she moved into that room.

The room was circular in shape, and as she moved down the stairs, two stalfos appeared.

"Ah damn." She said and took up her bow.

She had to watch the stalfos carefully, waiting for her moment to strike. As soon as one of them dropped their guard she shot it with an arrow, though she was nearly struck herself. When one of the warriors finally fell she smiled, but the look soon turned to one of pain as she felt the very tip of a sword slice across one shoulder. Turning around and now thoroughly pissed, she took down the remaining stalfos. The doors leading to the next room unlocked, but she noticed something above the doorframe next to a fan. Using the longshot, she hooked onto the torch that was on the other side of the fan, and using the iron boots, crossed and picked up a key. Smiling, she dropped down and moved on.

The new room was a complicated series of pillars with enemies on them and fans. She stood there for a moment and simply sighed. She carefully made her way around the room taking out the beamos and then looking for the way to open the door. With the door at her back she looked to her left and up, seeing a Stone of Time. Taking out the Ocarina Link had left on the table; she played the Song of Time. The stone changed places and a stone dropped down onto a platform she hadn't noticed, hitting a switch and raising the bars on the door behind her. Turning around she moved through the door.

The next room she entered was dark with a couple stairs in the back that lead up to a small raised portion of the floor. In the center of the platform was a green beam of energy moving in a straight line from floor to ceiling. There was a large ball of gold in the center that the beam kept in place. Misty moved through the room and up the stairs, stopping in front of the gold ball. Taking out her bow and fitting an arrow into it, she raised it and pointed it at the center of the ball. Light erupted around the arrow head before she let go of it. The arrow head bit deep into the ball causing a flare of light throughout the room. When Misty could see again, Saria was in the air before her.

"The Forest barrier has been broken, Hurry up!"

Closing her eyes the world shifted around her, and when Misty opened her eyes, she was back in the room with the entrance of the tower. The beam of green above her faltered, and then turned off completely, no longer feeding the barrier. The barrier around the tower still remained strong, but there were still five more beams to extinguish. Looking back to the left her eyes fell on the orange coloured beam which represented the Spirit Temple. There was a slight pang in her heart as she thought about how well she and Link had worked through the temple as compared to when they had gone through the forest one, but she gave her head a shake to clear her mind. It didn't matter now, this was the end, she would be gone soon….or dead. Body stiffening, she moved across the higher part of the room, entering into the Spirit area.

Link sat on the ground with his hands out behind him as he stared at the Deku Sprout, thinking perhaps it hadn't been a good idea to allow Misty to spend so much time with it.

"Seriously," It said, "The coolest thing to do would be to just barge right into the fortress, take out anything that's in your way, go to the top, and kick Ganondorf's ass, save the Princess, and ask Misty to marry you right then and there."

"Ok, get off the topic of Misty for once, we have a bigger problem then if she'll stay with me or not. And as I said, we can't just walk right into the fortress; one of the girls could get hurt." Link said sitting up some.

"Right, well Zelda isn't really in terrible danger. She has to Triforce of Wisdom, Ganondorf can't really do anything so long as she has that. Remember, Ganondorf can't just take it from her either, he needs all three pieces together and be worthy to take them." The sprout said happily.

"But Misty is in more danger then what we originally thought. Rauru made it very clear that Ganondorf must not get a hold of her because she has some sort of power or knowledge that can mess up his plans."

"Why not leave her here with me then?"

"I can't."

"Why not?"

"She'd put an arrow in my ass if I even suggested that she stay here."

"Ah." The Deku Sprout said knowingly.

"We're both so tired from all this though." Link said lying down, arms under his head. "I wish we could take a week or so to recover, but I know we can't afford that much time. There's bound to be so many traps throughout the fortress, it'll be like another temple all on its own. I have to plan it out so that we use up as little energy as possible."

"I now see your dilemma." The Deku Sprout said, and then continued slowly. "We could go over each monster that you've encountered and figure out which is the best way to get rid of them."

"Sounds good." Link said sitting up again.

"The Shadow barrier is dissolved, please save the princess." Impa said before Misty was pulled back to the main room where the shadow beam was cut down from the towers barrier.

She was already done two others, but she could already feel the strain of it. She had multiple bruises, small cuts across her legs and the slash across her shoulder received from the stalfos was still bleeding. Shrugging off her discomfort she turned to her left and moved down two flights of stairs to the Water Temple room.

The room she entered into was made of ice and snow. In the center was a vat of blue fire, though a high pressure jet of water surrounded it. Moving into the room Misty watched as three Freezards came at her. Taking out her bow she dispatched them with the power of fire. Walking around a bit more she found a long arm sticking out of the snow. Striking it with an arrow the water pressure vanished from around the blue fire. Walking over to the fire, she scooped some up with three bottles. Moving over to the door, she melted the red ice that was in front of it, and used a key she had found in one of the other rooms to unlock the door and moved on.

The next room made her smile, for it was another giant ice block puzzle that she was so good at before. Taking out the couple of bats that were in the room, she collected the silver crystals that opened the door, having to use blue fire to get one, and then used the remaining bottle of fire to melt the ice in front of the door.

Again she reached the sage without too much trouble, and she again burst the gold ball with her light arrows, Ruto appearing before her.

"The water barrier is dispelled, hurry up!"

A couple hours had passed since Link had first started talking to the Deku Sprout, and in the early hours of the morning he and Navi finally climbed up the ladder to the house.

"Misty I'm ba-" He started, and then realized she wasn't there.

Eyes darting around the rest of his house he realized his weapons were gone, and knew right away that she had left for Ganon's Tower. Cursing he turned around to leave, and walked right into a barrier. Taking a step back he punched the seemingly to be empty doorway, only to have his fist stopped.

"Damn it!" Link swore as he kept hitting at the barrier. "Misty…..why?" H asked the almost empty house.

Misty stumbled backwards at the full force of the barrier as it was dispelled from the tower. She knew she should release the spell on Link's house now, but she wanted to move on. She was a little more beat up after finishing the rooms, and she was breathing a bit harder then usual. Straightening up as best as she could she walked over and crossed the bridge, entering into the tower.

The first floor room of the tower held its circular shape, the walls displaying gold designs along its grey stones. Torches burned around the room, and a large set of stairs swung up to the right and out of her sight, a plush red carpet covering them. Taking a couple of steps, Misty paused as she heard a lot of rustling. Looking up towards the ceiling above stairs, she gasped as about fifty fire bats came at her. She took as many out as she could with her arrows, but when she realized it was futile, she slug her bow over her shoulder and ran up the flight of stairs. The bats came down at her, clawing at her arms and burning her lightly as wings hit her skin.

When she reached the top of the stairs she threw the door open, but it slammed down behind her, bars locking her in. She had entered into another circular room with gold along the walls, and also two Dinolfos coming at her. The lizard like creatures moved away from each other, catching her in the middle. Misty wasted no time in shooting an arrow into one, but the other came up behind her and made a clean slice along her ribs. Crying out in pain she turned around and shot it with an ice arrow to freeze it in place, but the other Dinolfos came in and cut across her upper arm. Turning her attention back to that one, she pulled out another arrow, using fire as her ally. After a couple more near hits on her own person, the lizard thing finally fell to a burning heap on the ground. Turning around Misty again felt the sting of a blade as it sliced across her collar bone, the other having broken free from its ice prison. Stumbling backwards, she shot a fire arrow at it, taking it out.

With both Dinolfos gone, the door behind her opened, as did the one that was up a couple steps. One arm wrapped around her waist, she cringed as she walked up and through the door. She took longer then she would have liked to move up the stairs of the long corridor she had entered, and going through the door at the top, it again closed and locked behind her.

The room was identical to the one she had left below, but there was a blue and gold chest in the center of it which she knew would hold the boss key, though it was surrounded by fire. She took one step in when two stalfos appeared out of nowhere.

"I can't do this." Misty said almost in a sob.

Navi hovered by the door as Link slept, having convinced him that since they were locked in he may as well get some sleep while she waited to see if something happened. A couple hours had passed since they got stuck in the house, and every so often Navi would go and place her hands against the barrier. She was doing such a thing when the barrier vanished and she fell through the doorway.

"Link!" She cried as she flew back into the house, "Link it's open!"

Link was up in a flash, grabbing his sword and shield that had been left behind. Running out of his house, he moved through Kokiri Forest without stopping once. When he reached Hyrule field he found Epona waiting for him, and once he was on her back, they were racing through Hyrule Field. Once they reached the walls of castle town, he jumped from Epona's back before she even came to a stop. Castle town was also a blur as he ran through it, and as he entered the castle area, he gave a small gasp as he took in the black castle. As he moved to stand at the edge of the cliff across from the entrance, he heard a voice call out to him.

"Link….can you hear me? It's Rauru, the sage. We six will gather our power to create a bridge to the castle where Ganondorf dwells. The castles keep, which is known as Ganon's Tower, was protected by six barriers which have been brought down. Hurry and save Princess Zelda!"

As soon as Rauru ceased speaking, small globs of light began to fall, all representing the colours of the six sages. There was a great flash of light, and then a bridge made of power spanned out in front of him. Not even questioning the power of the sages he made his way across it. Once he was inside he ran down the long corridor of stairs and through the door. He entered into a large room, Ganon's Tower in front of him, the rooms that had held the barriers all around. He paused for a moment to look around and then ran through the entrance to the tower.

Misty's back slammed against the wall with the force of the sword swing from one of the stalfos against her mirror shield. Crumpling to the floor, she barely registered the fact that fire suddenly leapt up around her. She had lost too much blood, and the power that she wielded was taking its toll on her body. She watched through heavy eyes as the stalfos slowly approached her; weary of the fire that had suddenly appeared around her. Suddenly, she heard the bars of the door slide open, and then finally the door itself.

All three heads turned to look at Link as the door locked behind him, furry on his face as his eyes fell on Misty and the state she was in. With a new target that wasn't surrounded by fire, the stalfos turned their attention on him. Misty watched as Link blocked the first strike made against him and she relaxed against the wall as her mind began to drift….

_"Yes!" Misty cried as she pulled out a bow, quiver, and a bundle of arrows from the chest that had appeared after Link had defeated two stalfos. "Now we can get those poes!" She continued, slipping the quiver over her back._

_"Why do you get that?" Link said in an annoyed voice as he sheathed his sword and whipped sweat from his brow._

_"I've gone through skalthulas, stalfos, hanging wall things, all without a weapon."_

_"Fine," Link said and then turned around, leaving the room, Misty following happily behind him._

Misty continued to watch Link fight, not yet making any leeway with the stalfos as they worked together, keeping him busy, though not scoring any hits against the Hero of Time. Misty reached down to her pouch and pulled out the Ocarina of Time, holding it close to her chest as she closed her eyes.

_Link pulled Misty into the Temple of Time for the very first time. When he let go of her wrist the parting warmth of his hand shocked her mind back into action. Looking around she could plainly see the anger on his face. She opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out but a shaky sigh, and then her trembling legs finally gave out._

_Link was by her side in an instant, all anger vanishing to be replaced with concern as he looked at her pale face. He gently began to rub her back, speaking in a soft voice._

_"It's okay, those things had the same effect on me when I first encountered them. I don't blame you for freezing up, it happens, so don't worry about it, at least you're safe."_

_"But those things were once people." Misty said in a small voice. "Good people."_

_"I know, and it's all Ganondorf's fault, that's why we have to keep moving. The faster we awaken the sages, the faster we can be rid of Ganondorf and avenge these people." He replied, standing up and holding out his hand to help her up._

"Misty! Come on, stay awake, stay with me!" Link's voice called across to her, causing her to open her eyes. He still fought the two stalfos, trying to see her better instead of fully concentrating on the fight. Putting her hands down on either side, she pushed herself up straighter against the wall. Once Link had a good look at her, he turned his full attention back to the fight,

_Misty shook her head as Link easily moved across a small path of rock over a huge drop in the Fire Temple. She followed after him as carefully as she could to where the path branched out, but when she turned to follow him the rocks crumbled under her feet._

_"Link!" She screamed as she began to fall._

_She could just see Link turn around with fear in his eyes before he vanished from her sight as the path fell away. Closing her eyes as the wind whistled past her ears, she prayed to whatever divine being that watched over Hyrule would allow her to die a quick death. Opening her eyes again her mouth fell open as strong arms wrapped around her._

_"Hang on tight and don't let go!" Link commanded as he slipped one arm around her waist, the other laying across her back some as he moved it to protect her head._

Misty eyes focused some as Link finally took out one of the stalfos, but again he turned back to look at her and almost got stabbed himself. When he looked away again Misty hugged the ocarina and closed her eyes again.

_Misty felt someone holding her tightly and call her name. She had thought for sure the boss of the Water Temple had drowned her, but when she slowly opened her eyes with a soft groan, it was Link's smiling face that greeted her._

_"Shouldn't we be looking for Princess Ruto?" She asked weakly._

_"We'll get to that, what matters most to me right now is that you're ok." Link said helping her up to her feet, though keeping her close._

_"Really?" Misty asked looking up at him, cheeks gaining a faint blush._

_"Misty, you've come to mean a lot to me." Link answered and then lowered his head, lifting Misty's chine at the same time so that her lips met his own._

Misty smiled at the memories that passed through her mind as she listened to steel clash against steel, and a single tear ran down her cheek.

_"Well that was easy." Misty commented as she watched the monster of the Showdown Temple fade away._

_Link put his sword away, turned around, walked over to her, and pulled her into a tight embrace._

_"I thought I had lost you to Ganondorf this time, if that had happened; I don't know what I would have done." He said, voice cracking as he fought back tears,_

_"Link, I'm so sorry." She said as she returned the hug._

When Misty opened her eyes again, Link dealt the final blow, and both doors unlocked, and the fire around the chest disappeared. A wind suddenly picked up out of no where in the room, but Link ignored everything as he moved to Misty, though he couldn't get too close because of the fire that surrounded her.

"Link, I'm so sorry." She said, and her body began to glow a crystal blue, and began to fade. "I had to do this though."

"No….please, Misty. Stay with me, I need you." Link said, pain shooting through his heart.

The wind picked up and pulled the flames around her, and she held the ocarina out towards him in her hand. "I'm sorry Link, I love you." She said as she seemed to disappear, the wind pulling the flames around her, and then vanished, the ocarina falling to the ground.

Silent tears fell down Link's cheeks as he stared at the place where she had been for a moment, before he fell to his hands and knees and full out cried.

"Oh Link." Navi said, coming to rest on his shoulder.

"She'll come back Navi" He chocked through his sobs. "She has to, this cant be the end."

"Link…." Navi said looking to the place she had been. "I really don't know about that this time. The magic that took her was strong, good, but strong. Where ever she is, she's in a better place now."

Link sobs ceased and his hands balled into fists. "This is all Ganondorf's fault." He said and stood,

Moving a couple steps, he picked up the ocarina and carefully put it away. Moving to the chest he grabbed the key and then moved through the room and entered the door. Moving up the plain staircase he could hear someone playing the organ, which fuelled his rage. In the next room were two Iron knuckles, which he took out with ease in his uncontrollable need to destroy something. Moving through the next unlocked door, he moved up another staircase, the boss door at the top. Using the boss key to unlock the door, he brushed aside the chains and moved inside.

The room he entered into had a large, tall square column in the center, and other gate exits around. Ignoring everything else though he moved for the only door to the right. The next stair corridor he entered had tall stain glass windows, the stairs covered in a plush red carpet. The windows didn't leave in much light, but as Link ran up the stairs higher and higher, the sun shone through, lighting the whole area. When he finally reached the top he stopped for a moment outside the door. Taking a deep breath with fists clenched, he moved through the door, the only thing keeping him and Ganondorf apart.

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**_A/N: Ok, so one of my friends really doesnt want me to give up writing about Link, so her and I made a deal. If I get any reponses about writing a second fanfic about Link, taking place in Majoras mask, then I'll write it, if not, then I'm done and two months after this stories completion, which I may add, is coming up, this story will be deleted. I would rather have all your opinions emailed to me through the email address I provided in my profile, and for those of you who are too lazy to go get it, here it is again: _**


	13. Chapter 13

**_FINAL CHAPTER! A/N at the end _**

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Link walked into the sun lit room, gazing around at his surroundings. Large pillars with huge gargoyles on top stood around the walls of the room, leading up to a alter where an organ stood. Zelda was trapped at the top still encased in the pink crystal; Ganondorf seated a little further, playing the monstrous instrument. As Link walked in the Triforce on the back of his hand appeared, and when he reached the halfway mark of the room the Triforce piece on Zelda's hand appeared, then Ganondorf finally stopped playing and spoke.

"The Triforce parts are resonating…They are combining into one again. The two Triforce parts that I could not capture on that day seven years ago…I didn't expect they would be hidden within you two!" Sitting up straighter he continued to speak. "And now, finally, all the Triforce parts have gathered here!" With a flourish of his cape he turned around, grinning at Link. "These toys are too much for you! I command you return them to me!"

Raising his hand Ganondorf brought forth the power of his piece of the Triforce, and a wave of darkness rolled over Link, shocking and pulling around him.

"Link!" Navi cried. "I can't help you! Because of the wave of darkness, I can't get close! I'm sorry Link!"

Suddenly Ganon leapt into the air and the room faded around them, becoming very plain. Link looked down at the floor and realized it was made of blocks, only the four corners of the room and the very center looking solid. With everything Link had gone through, he wasted no time in turning around and running for the closest corner of the room.

Just as his feet touched the solid ground Ganon unleashed another wave of power, and the blocks around the center of the room fell. Turning around, Link drew out his sword and faced the King of Evil as he floated in the center of the room.

Ganondorf lifted his hand above his head, electricity crackling around it as power surged in his palm. Ganon drew his hand forward and threw it at Link. Link had never felt so alone before, Misty was gone, and Navi had vanished, it was completely up to him now. As the ball of power neared him Link brought his sword around, sending it back at him. Ganondorf lifted his cape to shield himself and swung it outward, sending the energy back at Link, both repeating their movements until Ganon moved too slow. The energy struck him causing bolts to travel along his body. He remained in the air however, and Link had a moments panic, having no clue how to bring him down to the ground so he could attack him with his sword.

Something bright shot through the air from down below just then, striking Ganon. He cried out as beams of light soared from his body, and he curled up in agony. The beams moved around him before they turned around and struck him again. Ganondorf fell to the floor under him, the light licking at his skin like flames. Wasting no time Link jumped over the gap in the floor, bringing his sword down and slashing at Ganondorf. Ganon raised his voice in a yell as he shook off the flames and jumped back into the air, Link moving to the opposite corner of the room then the one he had started on.

Link turned to face him as the room darkened slightly, but he swung too late and the power Ganon had gathered struck him squarely in the chest. Link was knocked off his feet as electricity and pain flowed out over his body. Gritting his teeth, Link pulled himself back up, brining his sword up in time to catch the next attack. They beat the ball of power back and forth, the speed increasing with each strike. Again Ganon missed, and this time the light came from behind.

Link jumped to make his own attack, not even considering as to where the light was coming from. When Ganondorf rose up after a couple sword strikes Link jumped back to his platform and turned, but Ganon wasn't looking at him.

"You!" He bellowed to the far left of Link.

Link looked over, and there, in the other corner, was a short little brunette, dressed in flowing red pants with a wispy almost transparent wide blue skirt, a tight green top with a high collar that was open across the upper chest by a square cut, with a bow in hand and a defiant look on her face.

Link could only stare at Misty for a moment, but when the room darkened he ran towards her. Only by diving did he manage to take the full hit of the power, which threw him back against her. The two didn't say a word as they looked at each other, Links head resting on her knees from the fall. She brushed her fingers lightly against his forehead to move a couple strands of hair out of his face, and Link knew that she was for real, that she wasn't part of his imagination. Still without words he stood up, and with Misty safely behind him, he took his stance facing Ganondorf.

Once the power struck Ganondorf there was a small brush of wind against Link's face as Misty's light arrow soared past him. Even before the final beams of light hit Ganondorf Link had jumped across and watched out of the corner of his eye as Misty ran around the outer blocks to meet up with him on the other corner of the room.

Jumping back to join her after slashing at Ganondorf with his sword, Link took a moment to smile at her, which only earned him another electrifying shock. Gritting his teeth again, he turned back and met the next attack, his swing so hard that the power flew back so fast it caught Ganondorf by surprise. Misty didn't waste a second sending out another arrow, and she began moving to the other side just as fast. This just seemed to grate on Link nerves all the more, and when he reached Ganondorf his strikes were filled with the annoyance he felt.

Once Ganon moved back into the air, Link jumped to the safe platform, but didn't waste time before turning to face his enemy. This time around Ganondorf lifted both hands above his head, where a giant mass of energy formed. Link could hear Misty take a couple steps back, but Link stepped forward. There was one thing he had never shown her before that he could do. Holding his sword out to the side he crouched down some, and a blue power encompassed the blade. As the dark magic of Ganon gathered, so too did that of Links, which had turned a golden colour. When Ganon released his power, five spheres shot towards Link, but when they neared, Link spun with his sword, releasing his own power. The two sources collided and Ganon's was sent back at him, striking him again.

The battled raged on, both sides taking hits, but eventually Ganondorf cried out after Link slashes his across the throat, and fell to his knees, clutching the wound.

"The Great Evil King Ganondorf…beaten by this kid?!" He bent over slightly and coughed up blood. "Link….."

Ganondorf lifted his arms above his head as he was surrounded by light again and yelled his frustration. The building began to tremble violently as light seeped through the walls. There was a brilliant light that momentarily blinded everyone, but when they could see again, the room had been destroyed.

Ganondorf dropped to his knees and then fell face first to the ground, his body becoming still. There was another small flash and Zelda's crystal appeared. It floated down in front of Link and Misty and then vanished. When she could move again, Zelda turned and looked at Ganondorf over her shoulder as she spoke.

"Ganondorf….pitiful man…without a strong, righteous mind, he could not control the power of the Gods…and…" Before she could continue the whole castle began to shake under their feet, and she turned her attention back to Link. "Link, listen to me! This tower will collapse soon! With his last breath, Ganondorf is trying to crush is in the ruins of the tower! We need to hurry and escape! Please follow me!"

As soon as she was done speaking Zelda turned and began to briskly walk away. Link turned his head and smiled when he saw Misty was still standing by him. She smiled at him and nodded her head, and together they followed after Princess Zelda.

As they ran down a narrow path of brick that ran around the outside of the tower, large flaming debris rained down on them. When they reached the end of the path bars blocked their entrance into the tower, but Zelda raised her arms and used her magic to lift them up. The room they entered into was the one Link had been in before with three other openings, but Zelda knew exactly which one to take and lead them back onto another out door path, which seemed to have replaced all the stairs he had climbed before.

They quickly made their way through the room where Link had fought two Iron Knuckles, down another outside path, and then back inside. They were slowed in the next room though when both Zelda and Misty were surrounded by fire. Link turned to see two Stalfos jump out at him and dodged their attacks. He went at them ignoring his own safety, figuring a couple slashes here and there would be better then the three of them being dead. When the warriors were done the flames died down and Zelda turned to him.

"Thank you, Link. Now, let's hurry!"

They ran down another outer path, through another room, and then down a flight of stairs. Going through what he knew to be the last room of the tower, they excited and ran across the bridge of the barrier room. There was an undead blocking their path, but Link took it out quickly and moved up the stairs to freedom.

As they ran from the castle it began to collapse upon itself, and they stood to watch as what had been the fortress of the Great King of Evil collapsed to nothingness.

"It's over….its finally over." Zelda said as Link turned to her and they smiled at each other.

"Link…" Navi started. "I'm sorry I couldn't help you in the battle before!"

Before anyone could say any more there was a loud bang of shifting debris that came from the ruins of the castle. Zelda gasped as Link stepped in front of both girls, and they tried to see around the area.

"Link, lets check it out." Misty said and moved around him, giving Link no choice but to follow her.

They made their way carefully across the open space where the fortress had been, but they didn't make it too far when a ring of fire sprung up around them, blocking them from Zelda. Turning to look forward again the debris were suddenly knocked out of the way, and Ganondorf rose in the air. His face was dark, his eyes glowing, and his breathing laboured.

"There's no way he's going to hold me back again! This time we fight together!" Navi called to them, but neither Link nor Misty really heard her, they were too busy watching Ganondorf.

Ganondorf yelled out his anger again as he lifted his hand out in front of him, and again the Triforce of power shone brightly on the back of it. He pulled his limbs in close to his body and a bright blue light engulfed him as he began to change. He grew almost five times, horns growing from his head as his face seemed to take on the appearance of a pig. As he fell from the air and hit the ground the whole area shook, and then he unfolded himself. Long twin swords moved outwards with him arms, and a long tail swept out behind him. He let out a loud roar as he began to slash the air with his blades, getting closer to Link. Link raised the Master Sword to block one of the attacks, but Ganon had become so powerful that when the two blades connected, Links sword was pulled from his grasp, and the sword went flying through the air, and buried itself in the dirt not far from Zelda, on the other side of the wall of fire.

"Link!" Misty called to him as both backed off and went their own ways to stay away from Ganon. "Catch!"

She threw a pouch at him and Link caught it, opening it up to find all the weapons she had taken from him, and at the bottom, another sword. He pulled out the sword and had to hold it with two hands, dropping the pouch on the ground, the weapons were useless anyway. He smiled over to Misty, and she smiled back, nodding her head as she took up her bow and moved around Ganon as they tried to find a weakness through all the armour he had gained.

"Hey!" Navi said, and Misty looked to her. "The end of the tail doesn't have anything protecting it!"

Misty looked at the tip of the tail that was waving around high in the air, over to Link, and then looked at Ganon's face, everything falling into place in her mind.

"Link! Stay close to me!" Misty shouted as she ran towards him. "Once I have him distracted, slip around and strike the end of his tail."

"No way." Link said shaking his head as he kept an eye on the slow moving Ganon. "Every time I turn around you're either getting hurt or I think I've lost you."

"Unless you do as I say you will loose me and all of Hyrule." Misty shouted back, leaving out the part that no matter what he did he would loose her.

Link let out a stream of curses that Misty hadn't even realized that he knew, but turned around to fully face Ganon as soon as he had nodded his head. The two moved together, drawing Ganon further away from where Zelda was. Misty lifted her bow as Ganon drew near and loosed a light arrow in his face. It struck him and he lifted his head in a roar, temporarily blinded, dropping his tail low enough for Link to move around and strike it. The three kept up their dance of battle until Ganon went down on one knee and they heard Zelda call out to them.

"Link! The Master Sword is here! Hurry up!!"

With Ganon's fall the flames had died down, and Link ran over to retrieve his sword. With the Master Sword back in his possession, he, Misty, and Navi went back to their routine. Navi would light where Ganon was weakest, Misty blinded him with an arrow, and Link dealt a blow to the weak part of his tail. Again, after not too long, Ganon dropped down to his knee, but this time a beam of light dropped him fully to the ground, and they turned to look at Zelda.

"I'm using my power to hold the Evil King! You use your sword and deliver the final blow!"

The Master Sword glowed with a blue light and Link moved forward and with all his strength struck Ganon. The force of the strikes were enough to send his head back and forth, and when he moved his head forward, Link stabbed him dead center of the forehead. He stood and roared to the heavens, and Zelda called out.

"Six sages! Now!" She raised her hands in the air and called them forth.

Misty closed her eyes as she felt the power of the sages build, and then they were surrounded by a bright white light, and she could hear Ganon's voice fading as she spoke.

"YOU….CURSE YOU ZELDA…CURSE YOU YOU LINK AND MISTY….Someday when this seal is broken….that is when I will exterminate your descendants…As long as the Triforce of Power is in my hands….."

There was another great flash, and when Misty opened her eyes again, she, Link, Navi, and Zelda were floating in the sky above Hyrule.

"Thank you, Link." Zelda started. "Thanks to you, Ganondorf has been sealed inside the Evil Realm! Thus, peace will once again reign in this world….for a time. All the tragedy that has befallen Hyrule was my doing….I was so young…I could not comprehend the consequences of trying to control the Sacred Realm. I dragged both of you into it too. Now it is time for me to make up for my mistakes…You must lay the Master Sword to rest and close the Door of Time…However, by doing this, the road between times will be closed…" She paused a moment and looked to Misty before she held out her hand. "Link, give the Ocarina to me…As a sage, I can return you to your original time with it."

"What about Misty?" Link asked looking back to her as he held out the ocarina.

"Link," Zelda said, taking his hand in between both of hers, "When peace returns to Hyrule….it will be time for all of us to say goodbye."

"I don't understand." Link said turning to face Misty, pulling his hands from Zelda as she took the Ocarina.

"I'm not from this time Link." Misty said, taking his hands with hers. "I have to return to my own home. I can't stay here; I would have already been missed by everyone who knows me." By this time Misty had stated crying, and Link also started when he realized that he would never see her again.

"Now, go home, both of you. Regain your lost time." Zelda said sadly. "Home…where you are supposed to be….the way you are supposed to be…" Zelda lifted the Ocarina to her lips and began playing the Song of Time.

A blue light surrounded Link and Misty as they were lifted into the air, and Misty began to fade away.

"No! Please don't go Misty!" Link said in a broken voice, tears streaming down his face. "I love you."

"I'm sorry, I have to go." Misty said as she was pulled away from Link. They both strained against the magic as Link desperately hung onto her hand. "I love you too Link." Misty said as her fingers slipped from his, the tips just brushing against his for the last time before she was gone, and the blue light engulfed Link.

Link appeared in the Temple of Time in front of the Master Sword. He looked down at himself, and sure enough he was a kid again, back to the day when he had first pulled the sword from the pedestal. He could still feel the pain of Misty leaving, he could still remember everything.

"Link." Navi said, causing him to look up at her. "You know you're not actually a Kokiri. I'm so sorry Link, but I'm also going to have to leave you too, goodbye Link." She said crying and flew up to the tall window that was in the room, and vanished before anything else could be said.

Link stared at the place where she had left, the feeing of being alone out weighing the time before when he had fought Ganondorf. Turning around he walked out of the Chamber of the Master Sword, the Door of Time closing behind him. He made his way through the temple and down the steps outside, tripping on the last one and feeling something move around his neck. Reaching inside his shirt, he pulled out a small silver chain with a little butterfly pendant on it. Smiling he held it in his hand and looked up to the sky, determined to find Misty no matter what it took.

Tiffany was pacing around the place where her friend had vanished, freaking out because the lunch hour was just about up.

"How can you be so damn calm?!" She yelled and stormed over to Michael as he took the last bit of his last cookie, sitting on the picnic table.

Before he could say anything though, there was shimmer through the air, making the hairs on the back of their necks stand up. Both stood and faced the area where Misty had been taken from them. A blue sphere appeared before them, and Misty stepped lightly from it, opening her eyes and smiling at her two best friends.

"Oh my God!" Both of them said and ran to engulf her in a hug as the portal vanished.

"Geez Misty, you look dead." Michael commented, looking at her.

"You may not believe this, but I've been in Hyrule for months, have been through hell, and almost died once, but the Goddess's sent me back to help the Hero of Time defeat Ganondorf."

"Cool….what's this?" Tiff said, pulling up the silver chain with the piece of sapphire on it.

"It was a gift, come on; we don't want to be late for class." Misty said.

As they walked back to school with their arms around each other, Misty closed her eyes and thought to herself.

_'Thank you Din, Farore, and Naru, for letting me keep this necklace. I will never forget you Link, I'll love you forever.' _

_**End**_

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**_A/N: So this story has finally come to a close, I swear I almost cried writing this last chapter. I want to thank all of you who have been such loyal readers, and for those of you who care, my friends won the argument. For those of you interested, check out my new story "The Truth Behind The Masks" Which follows our lovely hero two years after this story to Majora's Mask. For those of you who love Misty, you will not be disapointed._**


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